Aki's Ouran Story
by Niera12
Summary: Aki was supposed to go to Tomoko High. She was supposed to stay and graduate with her old friends. Instead she gets put into Ouran Academy and has to make all new friends, and she has to survive being with the Host Club. (Cover image by me)
1. Prologue

Aki stood in her room, looking at herself in the mirror. She held her new school uniform in front of her and turned from side to side.

"Doesn't look as good as Tomoko High's or Tomoko Middle's," she said.

"It'll look good on you, Tomi-chan," Michiko said, leaning back on Aki's bed. Aki glanced back at her Aunt.

"Aki-chan, Auntie. It's Aki-chan."

"Oh, right, right, _Aki_-chan."

Aki looked back at herself in the mirror. The dress for the school wasn't very pretty. She didn't care a lot for dresses in the first place – she felt restricted in them – but she knew an ugly dress from a pretty dress and this was an ugly (and plain) one.

"Didn't you say this place – what, Ouran? – is a rich kids' school? The girl's uniform doesn't look very rich. Tomoko's sailor uniform looks better," Aki said. Michiko shrugged.

"It feels rich, though, doesn't it? Nice and silky."

"More like velvet, don't you think?"

"Eh, I can't tell one from the other."

Aki sighed and walked over to the bed, tossing the dress onto the headboard. "Why do I have to switch schools, Auntie?"

"You know why. The education's better than Tomoko's."

"But I like Tomoko."

"I'm sure you'll like Ouran, too. I heard the food's better, and the school's bigger."

"I don't want a bigger school."

"It'll be fine, Tomi-chan."

"And I don't even know anyone there! It's not like any of the kids Mom made me play with are there."

"You're a great girl. I'm sure you'll make a lot of friends one your first day!"

Aki frowned at her aunt. "Auntie, I don't think I'll like these people. I mean, can they let loose? I don't think any of them burp on purpose."

"Young ladies aren't supposed to burp on purpose."

"You sound like Mom."

"I was trying to."

"Anyway, do they like video games like I do? How about shows I like? Or books? Or music? I don't think I'm going to be able to make great friends with any of them!"

Michiko got up and shook her head. "You're being ridiculous, Tomi," she said, tousling Aki's hair. "You don't actually believe none of those kids like the same things you do."

"I don't, but they've gotta be different than the guys and girls at Tomoko. My _friends_."

"Oh, don't try to guilt me. I've already payed for Ouran and the uniform. You're going."

Aki huffed and sat on her bed. "This is all Mrs. Nakamura's fault."

"Hey, Mrs. Nakamura wants you to have a great education, too. She cares about her daughter's friends. Now try on the dress so I can see how it looks actually on you."


	2. Chapter 1

Aki looked around before stepping out of her house. There didn't seem to be anyone out of their houses at the moment. Good, she just needed to slip away before any of her friends left for school.

She hurried down the street, the heels of her Mary Janes clicking against the ground with each step. It was painfully quiet and she was certain someone was going to pop out at her.

"I still have time to get far enough away before even Mrs. Nakamura gets up," she murmured, checking her watch. Then again...Mrs. Nakamura liked to get up before even the sun did. Aki shook her head and sped up her pace. She did _not _want to get caught by that woman. She'd end up having her head chatted off about how cute she looked and then she'd be late to school. And even worse, her friends would see her in the dress! They would never stop teasing her about how silly she looked.

Finally, _finally_, Aki made it to the town just outside her neighborhood. She hurried to the train station, being careful not to cross paths with the business men riding their bikes to work (she'd gotten ran over by one of those guys once and that was _not _fun), and got her ticket to go to the city. It wasn't too far, she could ride her bike there, but she'd rather take the train since it was faster. The only problem was that she knew a lot of the people that rode the train, including some of Michiko's co-workers. Those guys were also the type who also wouldn't stop teasing her.

The train arrived and everyone got on. Aki sat down and glanced around for Michiko's co-workers. She didn't see them, so maybe they were in another car, or not there at all.

The train took off. The rumble of the wheels over the tracks helped Aki relax, which was good. She didn't want to show up to her first day at a new school looking all tense.

"Wow, what a nice dress," the woman next to her commented. She almost didn't know that the woman was talking to her until she glanced over and saw the woman looking her up and down.

"Oh, thanks," Aki said.

"What school do you go to?"

"Ouran Academy – a private school, I think."

"Really? I've heard of that school before! I wanted my own kids to go, but we didn't have the money. Your parents must be pretty wealthy to get you into there."

"Yeah, they are."

"Though I wonder, will they allow that hat?"

Aki unconsciously raised her hand to her beanie. It was dark gray and didn't go well with her uniform, but she wanted to wear it, anyway. Her head felt naked without something on it.

"I don't know yet. Ah...Here's my stop." She got up once the train stopped and the station was announced. "Goodbye," she said, flashing the woman a smile.

"Goodbye. And do your best!"

"I will."

Aki hurried off of the train. Ugh. She hated talking to adults she didn't know! It felt so weird and awkward.

"Tomi-chan?" She nearly flinched when she heard the voice. Glancing to her right, she noticed one of the guys from Michiko's job. Damn it.

"Jin," she muttered. The Korean man walked up to her with a goofy grin on his face. His hair was all messy and his clothes were ruffled and wrinkled. He looked like he'd just walked out of bed and his eyes had that sort of caffeine buzz look.

"Look at you, Tomi-chan," he said with a chuckle. "You look like a doll."

"Shut up, Jin."

"Did Michi have to force you into it or what?"

"Jin."

"You look pretty adorable."

"Jin!"

Jin laughed and patted her head. She glowered at him and pushed his hand away, then readjusted her beanie. "How many times have I told you to not pat my head?"

"How many times have I listened?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Look, Jin, I have to get to school, and shouldn't you be at work?"

"I'm gonna go, I'm just waiting for a few friends to show up and we can head off to the garage. Now, you go on along, Tomi-chan –"

"_Aki_."

"_Tomi_-chan. Hurry and get to school. You would want to be late on your first day, would you? By the way, the beanie looks nice. It gives the outfit that Tomi-chan flair, you know?"

Aki rolled her eyes. "Goodbye, Jin."

"See ya."

Aki checked her watch and hurried away from the train station. Stupid Jin! It was his fault if she was late now. She nearly broke into a run outside the station, but she didn't want to show up to school all smelly. And pit stains on the dress? No thank you.

It felt like forever until she finally saw the school's clock-tower (though it had really only been a few minutes). She sped up her pace even more until she reached the gates. She paused and looked around before stepping into the courtyard.

The school was as grand as ever. It was large, had multiple buildings, a huge, beautiful yard (what did these guys even need a big yard for anyway? Sightseeing?), a fountain right in front of the school, and other things. It was way different from Tomoko High which was much smaller. She was pretty sure all the schools in the area were smaller than Ouran.

Students were here and there in their groups of friends, talking to one another. They all practically oozed wealth. She could smell the money on two boys who walked past her.

Aki slowly made her way towards the entrance of the school, glancing at just about everyone she passed. They were all pretty attractive, actually. Just looking at them made her feel like a troll. She knew she was pretty, really, but she was middle-class pretty. These girls were upper-class pretty. They could afford the good stuff. Not that Aki couldn't either, but she preferred not to spend her money on make-up or a pro hairstylist.

The first bell rang just as she was passing the fountain (which was not what she expected it to be). The kids in the courtyard turned and headed for the school, but they still had a leisurely pace. Meanwhile Aki had sped up again. She didn't mean to since she was pretty sure it'd be a while until the tardy bell rang, but her body acted on its own. After being late to class so many times at her old school, she just tended to walk faster whenever she heard the bell.

Once inside, Aki walked around, trying to remember where class 1-A was. Honestly, she was surprised that she'd made it into 1-A. She didn't think her pedigree was _that _great. Maybe she just had good grades? But at least she wasn't in any D classes. She'd heard that the yakuza's kids went there.

_Can't believe they let yakuza kids in here anyway, _she thought.

Aki found 1-A just in time. As soon as she sat down the tardy bell rang. Everyone who was lounging around outside the class hurried inside and sat down. The teacher went to the front of the class and had them stand and bow before introduced himself as Mr. Watanabe. He then went on to say what he liked to do and what a few of his favorite things were. Then he asked the class to do the same, only they had to say what their parents' jobs were and what they wanted to be after school. They went across the rows, introducing themselves, saying what their parents were (a lot were business owners. Aki made sure to remember which kid went to which company in case she'd need to get on their good side), and what they wanted to do (most of the answers were to be a model or actor or singer, etc.). Then it came to Aki. She stood up and glanced around. All eyes were on her and she didn't like it.

"My name is Aki Fukuda," she said, keeping her eyes on the classroom instead of her classmates. "My mom is...um...a model and she works for a magazine company as an editor, I think, and my dad...is an actor." At least, she was pretty sure that's what they were. "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up."

"Thank you, Miss Fukuda," Mr. Watanabe said. Aki sat down and glanced around again. She heard the other kids muttering to each other, probably wondering who these Fukudas were. They also probably wondered who this new kid was.

After all the introductions were said and done, Mr. Watanabe went on to explain the schedule. They would stay in the same class for their usual core classes and switch classes for any electives. Nothing really out of the ordinary, although Mr. Watanabe did say he would be teaching all the core classes. He then made a list of the electives and which classes they were in on the whiteboard. Aki made sure to write down the classes for her own electives. Once he was done, the bell for the end of homeroom rang.

"Oh, is it that time already?" he said, checking his watch. "You all should go use the bathroom if you need to. I need to get ready for the next lesson."

Immediately almost everyone broke into chatter. Aki and a few other people got up to go to the restrooms. She hadn't realized it, but she _really _needed to pee.

She didn't expect going to the restroom would be such a hassle. Her dress was a pain to deal with. She had to pull the skirt past her waist but some of the cloth kept falling down so she ended up holding it in a ball behind her back, but it was probably going to get wrinkled and her aunt would not like that. It probably wouldn't have been that much of a hassle if she'd used one of the western-style toilets.

Once that was over, she flushed the toilet and washed her hands, then headed back to the classroom. She sat down and busied herself by studying her schedule and memorizing where her elective classes were. She should have taken the map that Michiko had brought her.

"Hey!" She jumped when two hands slammed down on her desk. Looking up, she found that they belonged to the twins in class. They had auburn hair that was styled in the same way – although, one twin had his hair parted on the left and the other on the right – and amber eyes that had a look in them that she didn't know if she liked.

They were the Hitachiins. She only remembered their last name because Michiko was in love with their mom's clothing. She could not, however, remember their first names, and even if she could she probably wouldn't remember which belonged to which.

"Hey?" she said, wondering why they were talking to her at all.

"Your name's Aki?" the one on the right with the left parting asked. She nodded.

"Is that short for something?" the one on the left with the right parting asked.

"Like Akio?"

"Akiko?"

"Akiha?"

"Akira?"

"Akina?"

"Akie?"

"Akiho?"

"Akino?"

"Akiyo?"

"Akimi?"

"Akihabara?"

"Akihabara?" the one on the left asked, looking at his brother. The one on the right shrugged.

"It's possible."

"No, it's just Aki, like autumn," Aki said. She didn't want to say that she'd originally gotten Aki from Akihabara.

"How boring," Righty said.

"It would be cooler if it stood for something," Lefty said. Aki shrugged.

"Well, what are your names?" she asked.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Righty asked.

"We already said them when we introduced ourselves," Lefty said.

"Not like we really needed to."

"Mr. Watanabe probably made us just for the new people."

"What? Aki and that commoner guy over there?"

_'Commoner?'_ Aki wondered. She looked around. Were they talking about the scholarship boy? Did rich people call lower class people commoners? That seemed...rude.

"Where did you come from, anyway?" Righty asked, bringing Aki's attention back to them. "We've never seen you here before."

"Some other prefecture? Or maybe another island?" Lefty said.

Aki shook her head. "No, I live around here. I used to go to Tomoko Middle School."

The room seemed to go quiet at that. People starter looking back at Aki like she'd said something really strange, which she probably did.

"'Tomoko Middle School?'" the twins repeated, looking at each other and frowning. "Isn't that a commoner's school?"

"It's not a rich school like this, if that's what you mean," Aki said.

"But didn't you say your mom was a model and an editor for a magazine?" a girl at the desk nest to her asked.

"And your dad's an actor?" a boy said.

"Yeah, they are," Aki said with a nod.

"Then how come –"

At that moment the bell for the next class rang. The Hitachiins gave her a weird look before going to their seats.

"Wow..." Aki muttered, looking at the lunch choices. They were amazing! Choice A was Steak with a boiled potato, probably the best vegetables money could buy, and some sort of soup that she didn't know the name to but was probably amazing. Choice B was meat udon with crispy fried chicken and steamed vegetables. They also gave out cakes, some sort of souffle, and pudding among other things for a dessert.

Aki pressed a hand over her stomach as it gave a low growl. Her mouth was watering. This was the best lunch she'd ever seen! And to think she was going to take a bento with her!

"Choice B, please," she said to the woman serving the food. She was immediately handed a tray with all the food on it. She payed for her food and moved on to the desserts, grabbing a chocolate cake and a yokan.

Aki found an empty table and sat down. She pulled her phone out of her bag and took a picture of the lunch to show her friends when she got home.

"Hi, Aki!" Two girls had appeared at the table just as she was about to start eating. One of them had short, light brown hair stopping just above her shoulders and eyes that were the color of caramel, framed by long eyelashes. Her features were soft and gave her a sort of innocent look. Her skin was almost milky white. She looked like a doll. The other girl was taller and had long, black hair that reached her waist. Her eyes were a darker brown, like coffee, and her skin was a bit tan. She had a more mature look to her than her friend did.

"Can we sit here?" one of them asked. Aki nodded.

The girls sat down on the opposite side of the table (not that she minded. She was glad neither of them sat next to her). Aki went right to eating chicken and did her best to not pig out in front of them.

"So, Aki, are you going to the Host Club after school?" one girl, the doll-looking one, asked after a moment. Her name was...what again? Emiko, probably.

Aki swallowed the bit of chicken she was eating and gave Emiko a confused look. "Host Club?"

"Yeah, Host Club!" the other girl said...Kei? That sounded like it was probably her name.

"I've never even heard of it," Aki said. "Or any clubs for that matter."

"Really? Well, it's after school and almost all the girls go there to hang out with the six most handsome boys in the school!"

Aki looked around. All the boy here looked pretty handsome. Who were the handsomest?

As if she could read her mind, Emiko spoke up, "The handsomest boys in the school are: Takashi Morinozuka – we call him Mori – Mitsukuni Haninozuka – we call him Honey – Kyoya Ootori, Tamaki Suou, and Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin."

"The twins?" Aki asked. Emiko nodded. Well, she couldn't lie, they were pretty attractive. "So you guys just hang out with them after school?" Emiko nodded. "Okay...well, I don't think I'm going to go. I have to get home and do my homework." Not only that, but it didn't sound like a very interesting club.

"Aw, really?" Kei put on a pout. "You should come sometime. It's pretty fun from what my sister said."

So she didn't even know what the club was like? "No, but thanks for the offer."

"Maybe you can come some other time?" Emiko said. Aki shrugged. "Oh, or maybe you could join a club with us once they start up?"

"Maybe," Aki said. "Um...your names are Emiko and Kei, right?"

Kei chuckled and shook her head. "No, it's Rei. Rei Noguchi, and she's Emiko Arai."

"Oh, right."

For the rest of lunch Aki ate and listened to Rei go on about the school and Emiko talk about how her parents almost sent her to an all-girls school. While they were talking she wondered what in the world possessed them to talk to her in the first place.

The bell for the end of lunch eventually rang. Aki (who knew she'd regret eating all that food later), Emiko, and Rei got up and put their trays away, then walked to class together. Aki was still pretty quiet and so was Emiko, but Rei made up for them by talking all the way there. These two weren't all that bad, actually. Maybe the school wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

"I'm home, Tomi-chan!" Michiko sang when she stepped into the house.

"Welcome home," Aki said. She'd changed out of her dress and was now laying on the couch in a tank top and sweatpants. Her red and white cap with 'H' embroidered on the front sat lopsidedly on her head.

Michiko walked into the living room. She had oil smudged all over her face and clothing and her skin was shining with sweat. Her hair was a mess, strands sticking every which way and some stuck to her forehead and neck. She reeked of oil and car feul.

"How was your day?" Aki asked.

"Long! We had a ton of cars come in today. It looked like a tornado had raged around the garage when I left." She shook her head and lifted her hand to wipe some sweat off of her forehead and ended up leaving a black mark in its place. "How was your day?"

"Good, actually. Well, not in the morning. I ran into Jin at the train station and he kept me there for a few minutes." Michiko chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Then I got to school and we had to give introductions. I think I confused everyone since I introduced myself as a Fukuda."

"Well, what else would your last name be?" Michiko said. Aki shrugged.

"Then when people heard I used to go to Tomoko, they got really confused. The classes were pretty great and not as hard as I expected...yet, anyway. During lunch I think I made two friends?"

"Really? What are their names?"

"Um..."

Michiko's smile fell. She crossed her arms and frowned at Aki. "Tomi, how can you not remember their names?"

"I wasn't paying much attention! I think one is Emiko and the other one is Kei."

"Last names?" Aki shrugged.

"Oh, Auntie, I've got a picture of my lunch because it was amazing. Oh! You never told me how much of a hassle it'd be to pee with a dress on!"

"Was that something I was supposed to tell you?"

"Well...no...but I wish someone could have told me." Michiko laughed and reached out to pat Aki's head, but she quickly leaned away. "No way. I'm not spending an hour getting stains out of this one."

"Oh, right. Well, anyway, I'm glad you had a good first day. Hopefully the rest of them will be better."

"Yeah, hopefully...hey, Auntie?"

"Yeah?"

"What's a Host Club?"

Michiko seemed to freeze. She looked down at Aki and gave her a confused look.

"How do you know what a host club is?" she asked.

"Emiko and Kei were talking about one going after school," Aki said. "Apparently six boys who are the handsomest of the school are holding it."

"Well, er, a host club is...it's a place where girls go to have guys flirt with them," Michiko said, a bit uncomfortably. "Light flirting, though, light flirting. I'm sure it's pretty light in your school, after all, you all are so young, you're not even twenty yet!"

"Right." Aki gave her Aunt a weird look, then turned away. "Go take a bath, weirdo, and deal with that mark on your forehead."

"Right!" Michiko turned and hurried to the bathroom. Aki shook her head. She was acting pretty weird about the club. Maybe she had gone to one.


	3. Chapter 2

Aki glanced around the cafeteria. She, thankfully, didn't see Emiko or Rei anywhere near her, so she quickly slipped out of the cafeteria with her tray in hand.

Now, it wasn't that she didn't like eating lunch with them or didn't like them at all, she did. In the three weeks that they had known each other, they'd become pretty good friends. Not good enough that she'd let them into her house or even take them to her neighborhood, but still pretty good. No, Aki liked those two. She just wanted to eat by herself for once.

Today's meal was juicy beef wellington with some sort of sauce drizzled over it, asparagus, and chopped potatoes. For dessert she had apple pie with cinnamon and whipped cream on top and some sort of Polish candy called Bird Milk.

Aki had no idea how these kids weren't fat yet with the things they ate. She was pretty sure she had already put on a few pounds by eating the main meals alone. She'd promised herself that she'd go running with Kasumi on the weekends and bring her own lunch to school, but she'd only done one of those things, and even then she only ran on Sundays and she didn't go very far (but that was because they'd get distracted so often).

She headed for class 1-A. It ought to have been empty at the moment. She knew Mr. Watanabe ate lunch with the other teachers, so he definitely wasn't there, and she couldn't think of anyone else who would be.

It wasn't until she's entered the room and set her tray down that she found out that someone did actually eat in there. She was about to sit down when she noticed Haruhi Fujioka sitting at his desk.

"Oh," she said, freezing when she noticed the guy. "Hi there."

Haruhi looked up from his own lunch (it looked like it was homemade) and gave Aki a small smile. "Hello."

Aki sat down and started eating her food. She felt really awkward. She'd wanted to leave as soon as she noticed Haruhi, but her tray had already been set down and she didn't want to seem rude.

She glanced back at Haruhi. She remembered during the first week he'd been wearing a large sweater and glasses and his hair looked unkempt. At some point he'd gotten an actual uniform and ditched the glasses and actually tamed his hair. Aki had no idea what had happened but she did know that some time after that she started hearing about Haruhi becoming part of the Host Club.

A few bites later, she decided to start some conversation. She hated being in a quiet room with someone else.

"So, do you eat in here all the time?" Aki asked, looking over at Haruhi who nodded.

"Yeah. It's pretty quiet in here, and the twins haven't found me yet, though I'm sure they will sooner or later," he said with a small sigh.

"The Hitachiins?" Haruhi nodded again. Oh, that was right. Ever since Haruhi got a new look the Hitachiins were more interested in him than ever.

"It's a matter of time before they drag me to the cafeteria."

Aki glanced at Haruhi's home-made lunch. It wasn't anything grand like the school's lunch. "You got in on a scholarship, right?"

"Yep."

"So your parents didn't pay for you to get in?"

"Not as much as everyone else's did."

"What do your parents do?"

"My mom was a lawyer, but she died ten years ago."

"Oh..." Aki's voice trailed off. That brought back the awkward atmosphere. "And, uh, your dad?"

"He works at an okama bar."

"What? No way!" She'd never heard _that _one before. "So he's...y'know...gay?"

Haruhi nodded again. "Yeah, though he wasn't totally gay until Mom died. Dad's also a professional transvestite."

"Seriously? Wow! Haruhi, I gotta meet your dad some day!"

"I'm sure he'd be happy to meet someone from school."

"I mean, of course, we'd have to know each other better before that happens. Kinda rude for someone you don't know well to show up at your door, huh? So, tell me about yourself."

"Aki-chan!" Rei and Emiko showed up on either side of Aki's desk.

"You ready to go?" Rei asked, an excited smile on her face. Aki sighed.

"Yeah," she said with a bit of a glum tone. Rei had talked Aki into saying yes to go to the Host Club, but she didn't think Rei would actually make sure she went. She'd planned on sneaking off after the school day was over, but now that was out of the question. She couldn't try and excuse herself either, because she'd used up all of her excuses already.

"Well c'mon," Rei said, motioning for her to get up. Aki grabbed her bag and got up.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun," Emiko said.

_Flirting doesn't sound like fun, _Aki thought. Not that she wouldn't like to be flirted with, but she'd rather it come from she liked or at least knew pretty well. Or maybe she wouldn't. She didn't know. No one had ever flirted with her before.

"We'll be sitting with Tamaki-senpai," Emiko said as the three of them left the classroom. Aki raised an eyebrow.

"Who?"

"Tamaki Suou, silly!" Rei said. "You've seen him."

"I have?"

Rei rolled her eyes. "Yes, you have. Remember, the blonde second-year?"

"Oh." She nodded, but she still had no idea who that was.

"There are different types of hosts, you know," Emiko said. "Tamaki-senpai is the princely type, Kyoya-senpai is the cool type, Mori-senpai is the wild type, Honey-senpai is the loli-shota type, Hikaru and Kaoru are the devil type, and Haruhi is the natural type."

_Loli-shota type? _Aki wondered. Weird.

"There are times slots, just so you know," Rei said. "We already have the first one for Tamaki-senpai, thankfully. We should have requested the others, too, since this is your first time going."

"I'll be fine with just Tamaki," Aki said.

"Maybe next time we can get the others?" Rei asked, looking at Emiko for approval.

"I think it'd be nice," she said with a nod.

The trio made their way to Music Room 3, joining up with a bunch of other girls along the way. Aki was surprised at how popular the club was. Maybe it would be fun.

Finally the large group of girl were standing in front of the room. They waited for a few minutes before the doors opened and they were greeted with rose petals and a chorus of, "Welcome."

Aki stood on her toes (though she was taller than most of the girls, anyway) and she saw the seven hosts. There was Haruhi, the twins, the blonde boy Rei must have been talking about, a guy with dark hair and glasses, a pretty tall guy, and...a kid?

The girls went inside and split off into groups. Aki, Emiko, Rei, and two other girls went with the blonde guy, Tamaki, to a coffee table with a two couches around it in the center of the room. Before any of them could sit down, Tamaki noticed Aki and walked up to her.

"And who is this lovely princess?" he asked.

"This is Aki Fukuda," Rei said with a grin, patting Aki's back. "She's a first timer to the club."

Tamaki flashed Aki a dazzling smile and took her free hand in his. "It's nice to meet you, Aki," he said, kissing the back of her hand. Aki's cheeks turned pink.

"Yeah, you too," she muttered, pulling her hand away and rubbing the spot where he'd kissed it.

"Go easy on her, okay, Senpai?" Emiko said. "She's only here to observe and see if she ever wants to come back." Tamaki chuckled and nodded.

"Anything you say, princess."

They all sat down and Tamaki went straight to flirting with the girls. He complemented their looks and personality, compared them to princesses and flowers, and would get close enough that he was nearly kissing them among other things. Aki was pretty glad he directed his lighter comments at her and didn't get close to her. Firstly because she would have felt really awkward (how would he know what to compare her personality to? And she did like her personal space) and secondly because she would have gotten all prepared for a kiss only to be disappointed (and a little relieved).

Aki focused more on the cakes than she did on Tamaki after a while. They'd served chocolate cake and it was absolutely delicious. She'd eaten three slices already and was craving a fourth. The tea was the best, too. She didn't usually drink much tea other than the green tea that came from a bottle, and she certainly had never had black tea. It was much sweeter than plain green tea, and she really liked it. She'd gone through five cups before she had to use the bathroom.

"Excuse me," she said, slipping her phone out of her bag before getting up and leaving.

In the bathroom she pulled out her phone and started texting Kasumi. She needed someone to talk to who wasn't either flirting with her or being flirted with.

_Kasumi, you there? _she sent. Almost instantly she got a reply.

_(oДo)!__ Aki-chan! Where are you?_

_I'm at my school._

_Why? Did you get in trouble? Me and Tetsuo can come over and rescue you!_

_I'm not in trouble, Kasumi, _Aki wrote, shaking her head. What kind of trouble did Kasumi think she'd get in for her to need to be rescued?

_Then why are you there?_

_I went with Rei and Emiko to the Host Club._

_Oh. Your new friends._

Aki rolled her eyes. _Yes, my new friends._

_What are they doing to you there? Do you need to be rescued?_

_No, Kasumi. I'm fine. This guy is just flirting with everyone in my group._

_Really?! A guy is flirting with you?_

_Yeah, sorta._

_No way! Aki-chan~! __o(≧▽≦ )o __Is he cute?_

_Yes, but it's not like that, Kasumi. He's flirting with five other girls, too. I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean anything really._

_(o__Д__o__lll__) Whaaat? What kind of guy is that? And you're all okay with it?_

_The other girls are head-over-heels for this guy, so I don't think they really care. I'm more focused on the cake and tea they served._

_ε-(´∀__; )__Of course you are._

"Aki-chan." It was Emiko's voice. Aki looked up, remembering where she was and realizing that she'd been sitting on the toilet for a while.

"Here," Aki said.

"Are you alright? You've been in there for a while."

"I'm fine, I was just texting a friend."

"In the bathroom? Ew." That was Rei.

"Oh please, Rei," Emiko said with a hint of irritation in her voice. "Don't act like you've never texted me in the bathroom or even called me. With raging diarrhea, too."

"Emiko!"

"Gross," Aki said while telling Kasumi that she had to go.

"Don't listen to her, Aki-chan!"

Aki smiled a bit and held her phone between her teeth before cleaning herself up. She stepped out of the stall and washed her hands, then turned to face Rei and Emiko. Rei's cheeks were pink and the tips of her ears were almost red.

"Our time was over," Emiko said, holding out Aki's bag. "Tamaki-senpai was asking about you, you know."

"Really?" Aki said, taking her bag and leading them out of the bathroom.

Rei nodded. "Yeah. We were all waiting for you after a while and he started saying, 'I hope she's alright.' He even asked us to give you this in case your stomach was hurting." She pulled out a box of ginger snaps from her bag and handed it to Aki.

"Is he always like this for girls with stomach aches?"

"Uh-huh. My sister said that once she was having really bad cramps and Tamaki-senpai showered her with food and drinks that were supposed to help. Well, he probably didn't shower her with 'em, but he did give her things to help her. She also said he and the other hosts would do the same with other girls."

Aki's eyebrows raised a bit. So they really did care about the girls. Huh.

"Ready to go?" Rei and Emiko appeared at Aki's desk. She sighed and nodded. Yet again she was going to the Host Club. This time the two had gotten time slots with every host aside from Tamaki. They wanted Aki to experience all the different types and at the end pick who she liked best.

_And I was gonna watch Midori Days today, _Aki thought sadly as she followed Rei and Emiko.

"First up is Kyoya-senpai," Rei said just as they reached the music room. "Then Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai, then Haruhi-kun, and finally Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun."

"Sounds like a lot," Aki said.

"It's not that much, actually," Emiko said. "Only four, if you think about it. Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai are one and Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun are one, too."

"Still..."

They waited around for a bit with the other girls that were there. Finally the doors opened and rose petals fluttered out.

"Welcome," the hosts said. Excited chatter rose up from the girls as they all stepped inside.

Rei and Emiko led Aki over to the glasses boy, Kyoya. He already had two older girls with him.

"Good afternoon, Kyoya-senpai," Rei and Emiko said in unison.

"Good afternoon, Senpai," Aki said and a quieter voice.

"Good afternoon," Kyoya replied, giving the three a small smile. He had only said two words and Aki was already in love with his voice.

Kyoya led his little group to a set of tables. He sat between one of the older girls and Rei while the other older girl sat by her friend, Emiko sat next to Rei, and Aki sat on the end.

"Kyoya-senpai," Emiko said, grabbing the boy's attention. She gestured to Aki. "This is Aki Fukuda." She stopped at that.

"Ah, yes." Kyoya smiled at Aki briefly, then turned to the notebook in his hand. "Aki Fukuda, age fifteen, in class 1-A. Your mother is a model and an editor for a fashion magazine, your father is a well-known actor, and you have four older siblings."

"Whoa, really?" Rei said, looking over at Aki. "You didn't tell us that!"

"You never asked," Aki said, shrugging. Meanwhile in her head she was wondering how this guy knew about her siblings. She'd never told anyone at the school. Not because she didn't wan to but, like she said, no one really ever asked.

As if Kyoya knew what she was thinking, he said, "I like to do a little research on all of our clients if you were wondering, Miss Fukuda."

"Oh." What else did he know, then?

One of the older girls grabbed Kyoya's attention. Aki turned hers to the tray of cookies on the table. There were sugar and chocolate chip cookies, arranged in a spiral along the tray. At the middle was a small basket with flower-shaped candies in them. Ornate teacups were placed around the tray with the handles facing outwards. What looked like black tea was inside, but when Aki picked up the cup and brought it closer she found that it had a different smell. It smelled almost like her aunt's favorite shampoo.

_Jasmine tea? _She wondered, bringing the cup to her lips and drinking. She didn't know what Jasmine tea was supposed to taste like, but if this was it then it was delicious.

While she drank the tea she watched Kyoya. He was different than Tamaki was. While Tamaki was more flamboyant and liked to be close to the girls, Kyoya seemed to be more level-headed and kept a good distance. He also didn't fire off compliemnts like Tamaki did, but when he did give a compliment Aki's heart fluttered a little. He slipped compliments in when she wouldn't expect and it and he was pretty damn smooth with them. Every time there was one aimed at her she could feel her face heat up, especially when it took her a moment to figure out that what he said wasn't just part of casual conversation (those times it was more out of embarrassment). And his voice...she just got lost in it.

"Oh my," Kyoya said, checking his watch and pulling Aki out of another one of her mini-trances. "It's already time for the next group."

"Aw," Rei whined. She seemed to have been pulled out of a voice-induced trance, too.

"Thanks for having us," Emiko said as they all got up. The other girls nodded.

"It was a pleasure," Kyoya said with another smile.

"Time for Mori and Honey," Rei said.

Aki looked around the room. All the girls were getting up, too. Some were leaving the room while other girls came to take their places, but a few girls moved from one host to another. Haruhi disappeared into another room and came back with a tray of sweets for the table Rei was pushing her to right now: Mori and Honey's.

Three other girls were already at the table and were cooing over Honey who gave them a sweet smile. Aki wondered why he was in the club and wearing the school's high school uniform. He looked like he ought to be in elementary school.

"Honey-senpai! Mori-senpai!" Rei said in a cheery voice. The two looked over at her and the other two.

"Rei-chan! Emi-chan!" Honey bounded up to the girls with a huge smile on his face and a pink stuffed bunny in his arms. He stopped in front of them and looked up at Aki.

"This is Aki Fukuda," Rei said, nudging Aki. "First-timer...well, second-timer, really, but first-timer to you guys."

"Nice to meet you, Aki-chan!" Honey said, smiling up at her. He was adorable! So much so that she overlooked him calling her by "-chan" already.

"Nice to meet you, too," Aki said, returning the smile.

"C'mon!" Honey grabbed her hand and started pulling her to the table. "Since you're new, you can sit with me and Takashi. And you can hold Usa-chan!" he added, pushing the bunny into her arms.

Honey directed Aki to the seat next to the really tall guy. She sat down and looked up at him. He looked down at her. Boy, was that guy attractive.

There was a sort of unspoken greeting between the two, then they turned away from each other. Aki noticed Rei looking between the two as if she were waiting for something.

"Aki-chan, which one do you want?" Honey asked, grabbing her attention. He had two plates in his hand, one with red velvet cake on it and the other with strawberry. Aki's mouth started to water a bit. She wanted both to be honest, but she didn't want to look like a pig. Plus, she's already cleared Kyoya's table out of most of it's cookies.

"Red velvet, please."

"Okay!" He set the plate in front of her then turned to Emiko, giving her the strawberry cake. "Here, Emi-chan! It's your favorite, right?"

Emiko smiled and nodded. "It is, thank you!"

Honey continued to give the others slices of cake and then took a large slice of strawberry cake for himself.

Aki watched him and Mori in mostly silence. They weren't like Kyoya or Tamaki, she noticed. Honey, for one, had the child-like charm that none of the others did and it really worked. Whenever he complimented her (though that was somewhat rare compared to the other two) she found it incredibly sweet. She almost found herself cooing over him like the other girls were (even Emiko was cooing over him and she was usually pretty quiet!). Mori on the other hand was pretty quiet. The most noise he made was grunts and the occasional, "Yeah." Aki couldn't see how he was the "wild" type, really.

After a while Mori reached around Aki and tapped Honey's shoulder, then pointed to his watch.

"Oh! Time's up already," Honey said. The girls (Aki included) gave "aw"s, but got up anyway.

"Here, Senpai," Aki said, giving Honey back his bunny.

"Thank you, Aki-chan!" he said. Just as she was about to walk away there was a tug on her dress. She looked back at Honey who was holding onto the end. "Aki-chan? You'll come back, right?"

Aki hesitated. Part of her wanted to say no, but the other part wanted to say yes. When she saw Honey's puppy eyes, she sighed and nodded.

"Yay!"

"What?!" Rei crossed her arms and frowned at Aki. "How come you didn't say yes that easily when _I _asked?"

"Erm...I have to go use the bathroom." It was true. The tea she'd drank had been getting to her, but she'd ignored it earlier. Now, however...

"Alright, but don't take forever this time," Rei said.

"I won't, I won't. I'm not even taking my phone with me this time."

Aki handed her bag to Emiko and quickly slipped out of the room and down the hall. She felt like she was going to pee at any moment!

Thankfully she made it in time, though she did end up taking longer than intended. Hopefully the other two wouldn't come looking for her again.

After washing her hands she hurried back to the club room and found the other two siting with Haruhi. She plopped into a seat next to Rei and listened to Haruhi.

Haruhi didn't seem like he really cared around flirting, but not in a bad way. He just talked and talked. There were some things that the other two got flustered at. Aki noticed that Haruhi also didn't seem to know how good he was at flirting. Or, maybe he did, but he sure didn't show it.

Since Aki had spent so much time in the bathroom, she didn't have much time with Haruhi, but that was alright.

"Thanks for spending time with us, Haruhi-kun," Emiko said. Haruhi nodded and smiled at them.

"It was no problem."

"No wonder he's the natural type," Rei said to the other two as they headed to the twins. Then she turned to Aki and her mood changed. "Aki-chan! What took you so long in the bathroom? You said you didn't have your phone with you! And you missed out on Haruhi-kun!"

Aki held her hands up. "I didn't have it with me, honest. I just drank a lot of tea before."

"And ate a lot of cake and cookies," Emiko said with a giggle. "You really like them, huh?" Aki's cheeks turned a bit pink and she didn't respond. Thankfully they'd reached the twins by that time so she didn't have to.

The trio and two other girls sat with the twins. Things started off normally enough, the twins talking to everyone and throwing out casual compliments. Then something happened but she couldn't remember exactly what (Kaoru hurt himself, probably) because at that moment Hikaru started worrying about Kaoru and got close to him, about as close as Tamaki had gotten with the girls the other day. The other girls (aside from Emiko) squealed, but Aki was shocked.

Forbidden love! Incest! She didn't like that a bit. Not that she wasn't all for forbidden love, it was usually fine with her, as well as homosexuals. _However_, she was not a fan of incest and this weirded her out. A lot.

The same sort of routine happened a couple more times and Aki started feeling pretty uncomfortable. She was glad when the time slot was up. She nearly jumped out of her seat and grabbed her bag.

"Hey, Aki-chan." The twins appeared on either side of her. She jumped a bit and backed up.

"'Chan?'" she questioned, narrowing her eyes. They ignored her.

"Rei-chan told us that you were going to chose a favorite after the club," one of them said while they advanced towards her. She backed up.

"So who are you going to choose?" the other asked.

"It'll be us, right?"

"Uh, well..." She didn't expect to be choosing this quickly. And, really, it wasn't them. They seemed to know this.

"Come on, we're a lot more interesting than the others."

"We are twins after all. Who wouldn't like twins?"

"Well..." Not her. Or, she didn't think so, anyway.

"And we have the brotherly love thing going on."

"A bonus."

"Um..." Aki looked around for help, but it seemed that no one was paying attention.

"Well?" the twins asked, getting close to her. She backed up again, but in her haste to get away from them she tripped over her own feet and fell backwards.

Things seemed to go by in a blur. First she was falling. Then there was a crash – no, a crash, a clunk, and then a second crash – and she found herself on the floor which was wet for some reason.

"Aki-chan!" Rei called.

In an instant girls had crowded around her. Rei and Emiko were standing in front of her. Rei was freaking out and Emiko had a scared look on her face.

"Aki-chan! Are you all – ouch." Rei grimaced when she saw Aki's arm. Aki glanced to her left and saw that the arm of her dress was torn and she had shards of something in her was bleeding and the blood was staining her dress and got onto the floor where it ended up mixing with water.

"Excuse us. Excuse us." The hosts appeared behind Rei and Emiko. Tamaki and Honey started to freak out and Haruhi looked pretty concerned. Kyoya looked slightly irritated, though she couldn't be certain because as soon as she had noticed it his expression was blank.

"Are you alright?" Tamaki asked, kneeling next to her.

"Well, my arm's bleeding, but otherwise I'm pretty alright," she said, no trace of sarcasm in her voice. "My shoulder does hurt, though."

Tamaki glared back at the twins and started yelling at them, saying something along the lines of them being devils and how they should know not to hurt a client. Kyoya stepped forward and helped Aki to her feet.

"We didn't do it on purpose, M'lord," one said.

"It was an accident, honest," the other said.

"It's not really our fault, anyway."

"She _did_ trip over her own feet."

"Come with me," Kyoya said to Aki, leading her through the crowd of girls.

"We're right behind you, Aki-chan," Emiko said as she and Rei hurried after them.

"Actually, I can take care of this myself," Kyoya said, stopping and turning to the two. "You two should head home."

"But what about Aki?" Emiko said. "We should –"

At that moment Rei's face seemed to brighten. She grabbed Emiko's hand and started pulling her away.

"We'll just be going then!" she said, waving to them.

"Rei –"

"You take care of Aki-chan, Senpai!" Rei said before she pulled Emiko out of the room.

Kyoya looked back at Haruhi. "Haruhi, please clean up the mess. The rest of you tend to the clients." With that he continued to lead Aki out of the room and to the nurse's office.

"Excuse me, Ms. Sato?" Kyoya said when they had reached the office. Ms. Sato, one of the nurses, looked up from a book she was reading. Her brow furrowed when she noticed Aki.

"What happened?" she asked, getting up from her chair.

"There was an accident at the club," Kyoya said. Ms. Sato directed Aki to one of the bed.

Aki sat down at the edge of the bed. Ms. Sato left for a moment and got some disinfectant, wipes to clean up blood, bandages, and a bag full of extra clothing. Kyoya stood to the side and wrote in his notebook while Ms. Sato got everything and started picking shards out of Aki's arm (and that hurt like hell).

"Mr. Ootori, could you step out for a moment?" she asked. He nodded and left the room. "Now, Miss Fukuda, if you could slip your arm out of the dress."

The corners of Aki's mouth twitched downwards but she agreed. She pulled her arm out of the sleeve and dress, wincing a few times, then held it out for Ms. Sato. The nurse gently took hold of Aki's arm and started to clean off the blood. Aki's arm twitched every time the cloth touched her arm. That wasn't the worst part, though.

Next came the disinfectant. As soon as the cloth covered in it touched her wound, she winced and jerked her arm away.

"Miss Fukuda..." Ms. Sato grabbed her arm again, keeping a tighter grip. Aki tried to pull her arm away the next time the cloth was on her arm, but Ms. Sato had an iron grip and would not let go.

She endured the pain, wincing and saying, "Ow, ow!" She was so happy when that was over.

Next came the bandages. Ms. Sato wrapped them around her arm, starting halfway down her upper arm and ending just above her wrist (though Aki asked that she wrap it around her hand, too, and she did. She thought it made her arm look cooler).

"And you're done. Just change into these and you'll be set," Ms. Sato said, handing her the bag of clothes before closing the curtains around the bed and leaving.

Aki pulled off her blood and dirt stained dress and tights and changed into a white dress shirt and a yellow skirt that ended at her knees. She pulled on the tights that were provided and slipped her Mary Janes back on.

"Are you done?" Ms. Sato asked.

"Uh-huh," Aki said while stuffing the stained dress and tights in the bag. The curtains were pulled back to show Ms. Sato and Kyoya.

"If you could excuse us, Ms. Sato," Kyoya said, turning to the nurse. "I would like to speak with Miss Fukuda privately."

The nurse nodded and stepped out. Kyoya turned to Aki, and that irritated look flashed across his face. She felt like she was in big trouble.

"Do you know what exactly you broke?" he asked her.

"No."

"Well, you broke a very rare porcelain vase for one, and you also broke a large and expensive flower vase." That would explain the water and dirt. "And you have to pay for it all." She flinched at that.

"But, you know, it's not my fault they broke! Not really!" she said, trying to get herself out of the situation. "The twins were pushing me back."

"They're not the ones who knocked everything over."

"Still, I –"

"The price is sixteen million yen."

Her jaw dropped. "Sixteen _million?_ I don't have sixteen million yen! I have, like, eight, but half of that isn't even mine!"

Kyoya only shrugged. "You'll have to work it off, then."

"Work it off how?"

"By working for the club. You'll be the club's waitress and maid, serving drinks and snacks to the hosts and clients, cleaning up after everyone, you know. Or, maybe you don't, seeing as you live with your middle-class aunt. I research our clients, remember?" he said when she opened her mouth. "I know much more than that. I know your real name, I know the situation with your parents, and I know a secret about you that you would never let anyone else know."

Aki gritted her teeth. She did not want to work off this debt. She had better things to do with her time. Maybe she could just –

"Oh, and it's not wise to try and run. My family has its own police force, did you know?" he asked, giving her a cold smile. Damn it. And this guy was her favorite voice.

"I have no choice, then?" she grumbled.

"None at all. We'll see you on Monday." He turned and left.

Aki huffed and left as well, though she was going a lot slower than him.

_How is Auntie going to take this? _she wondered, now started to feel a bit scared. Michiko sure wouldn't like it, but would she be supportive or not? Maybe she'd ground Aki. Or maybe she'd just give her a big lecture and then have Mrs. Nakamura give her another one.

Aki opened the door to the office and stepped outside, but right as she did she bumped into someone. She backed up and saw the twins standing there, one with a bag in his hand.

"You!" she exclaimed.

"Us!" they said.

"You landed me with a debt, you know! Sixteen million yen!"

"Really?" one said. "That's a lot like how it happened with Haruhi."

"Only Haruhi has to pay eight million," the other said.

"And she only broke one vase."

"Does Haruhi have to serve you guys, too?" Aki asked. They nodded.

Her brow furrowed. Who the hell wrote this story? She felt like she was copying off of Haruhi!

"Oh, are those your torn clothes?" one asked as they peered into her bag.

"Yeah."

"Here, we'll trade you!" they said, taking her bag of clothes from her hands and replacing it with the bag they had which turned out to be hers. She must have left it the room.

"Hey, give it back!"

"Don't worry, we'll have it fixed up by tomorrow!" one said.

"No, my aunt –"

"Can she buy the cloth needed to patch up the arm or get blood and dirt stains completely out of the dress?" the other asked.

"She can buy it, I think. And –"

"We thought we'd repay you since it was our fault that you tripped and fell," one said, though he had a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Aki didn't notice it. She was more focused on the fact that they really were doing something nice for her.

"Really? Well, thank y–"

"But in return, you owe us!" the twins said, grinning. Her happy mood immediately went south.

"What? Wait!" she said as they started to run off. "That's not how repaying works! Give me back my dress!"

Too late. They were already gone. She hurried to the window and saw them running up the courtyard and towards a limo.

_How did they get down there so fast? _she wondered.

She huffed and made her way out of the school. She had herself to blame, partly. She _was _the one who knocked over the vases. Although, it was the twins who backed her up, and if she really wanted to go to the root of it all it was Rei's fault for talking her into going the host club and making her choose a host. She could also blame her aunt for switching her to Ouran and Mrs. Nakamura for suggesting this school to Michiko. But, really, she blamed herself and the twins.

**A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter! I'm sorry about using the same "breaks vase, gets debt, works for the club" type of plot, but I didn't have many other ideas. I also hope the emoticons show up alright. Kasumi is the type of girl who would use excessive emoticons given the chance, but I think I might cut them out of any texts from now on because they're a bit of a pain. Also, the first vase was set on a pedestal. Aki's shoulder hit the pedestal, the first vase fell and broke, then the pedestal hit the large flower vase and knocked that over and it broke,****hence the "crash, clunk, crash" and her shoulder hurting.**


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, so I was going through the comic and I realized that my time-line is off. Basically this chapter and the previous one was set before the third chapter of the comic, so before Renge shows up, and the month is January instead of May. Also, thank you to everyone who favorited and followed the story!**

Aki walked up to the school's gates, fiddling with the strap of her bag. It was Monday and it would be her first day working to pay off her debt. Michiko had wished her luck before she left.

_She was surprisingly encouraging, _Aki thought.

When she'd gotten back from school on Friday, she had told her aunt about the debt. The first thing she'd said was, "But you're not supposed to be in debt until college!" Then she shook her head and listened to Aki explain the situation. Thankfully, her aunt was calm through the whole thing. She just _had _to tell Mrs. Nakamura, though. Mrs. Nakamura was not so happy. She made up for Michiko's lack of anger. And, of course, just about everyone was freaking out over her arm.

Aki glanced down at the new bandages and sighed a bit. Her friend Nobuo had offered to decorate the bandages to make them look like a super hero's, but she declined. If she were going to school in Tomoko High, she would have jumped on the chance, but she wasn't. She was at Ouran, and she wasn't very keen on showing these people her nerdy side.

Her phone buzzed in her hand as she headed into the courtyard. She checked it and found another two texts from Hikaru and Kaoru. They'd been texting her non-stop since the morning started (how'd they get her number, anyway?).

_See you in class, Puppy, _they had both sent. Aki frowned a bit.

'Puppy.' That seemed to be her new nickname. They kept calling her by it instead of Aki.

Aside from that, she wasn't looking forward to class. Not just because it was school, but she just so happened to sit right in front of one of the twins. Hikaru, if she remembered correctly.

The bell rang and Aki merged with the crowd of students heading to their classes. She followed a couple of her classmates to 1-A and when she got there she was immediately ambushed by the twins.

"Good morning, Puppy," they said, putting their arms around her shoulders.

"Good morning," she muttered. A couple students glanced back at them.

"You didn't answer our texts," the one on her left said as they walked to her desk.

"There were too many," she said.

"You could have at least said hello," the one on her right said.

"I was trying to get ready for school." Aki spotted Emiko and Rei sitting at their desks, watching them. She tried to give them a "Help me" look, but apparently they didn't get it.

"How'd you guys get my number?" she asked, looking up at them.

"Kyoya-senpai gave it to us," they said. Aki frowned.

"Did he give it to everyone in the club?"

"Yep!"

She huffed. What'd he do that for?

The bell rang a moment later. Aki nudged the two in their sides.

"Go to your desks," she said, wriggling away from their arms and sitting down at her desk. The twin that had been on her right went to go sit at his own desk.

"Here," the other one who she assumed was Hikaru said, placing a bag on her desk before sitting at the one behind her. She glanced back and noticed that his parting was on the left.

Aki turned to the bag and saw her once ruined dress. It looked brand new, no stains or tears or anything.

"You still owe us, by the way," Hikaru muttered in her ear, nearly scaring her to death.

"I shouldn't have to owe you anything," she hissed.

"But our mom spent a lot of time on it," he said with a whiny tone.

"I never even asked her to, or you guys to take my dress! And weren't you supposed to be repaying me for landing me with a debt?"

He ignored her comments. She gritted her teeth and shook her head. These two were really going to get on her nerves.

Class wasn't very fun. Hikaru kept messing with Aki and poking her back with the eraser of his pencil, trying to get her to "entertain him." She had to tell him to go bug Haruhi to get him to leave her alone. She felt bad for switching his attention to Haruhi, but she was trying to focus on her work! She also was constantly explaining what had happened to her arm to the other students. She also had girls who were at the club when she cut her arm come up to her and ask her if she was alright.

Lunch wasn't that great, either. While the food was divine, her company was not. The twins had her sit with them since Haruhi wouldn't. Even though Aki said that she had friends to sit with, they still insisted, and Rei even spoke up and said that Aki didn't have to sit with her and Emiko! So much for their help.

She had planned to jump out of her seat and run once the school day was over, but the twins grabbed her before she could even get out of her seat. They pulled her out of her chair and wrapped their arms around her shoulders, then pulled her out of the room.

"Kyoya wanted us to make sure you went to the club and didn't try running off," Hikaru said.

_Damn it, _she thought, reluctantly walking with them to the club room.

Kyoya and Tamaki were already there when they entered. Tamaki was jabbering away to Kyoya while the other just typed away on his laptop and nodded.

Hikaru and Kaoru stopped in front of Kyoya. "Here she is, Kyoya-senpai!" they said, smiling. "The Host Club's new puppy!"

"Aki-chan!" Tamaki appeared in front of Aki and pushed the twins away. "Aki-chan, are you alright? Your arm is okay? How about your shoulder? Is your stomach feeling well? These two didn't do anything to you, did they?" he asked, shooting a glare in the twins' direction.

"No," Aki said. "And my arm and shoulder are fine."

"And your stomach? I have some gingersnaps for you!" he said, holding up a box of the cookies.

"I'm fine, Senpai. Put those away, I'm fine," she said, pushing the box away.

Kyoya pushed Tamaki to the side and held a small piece of paper and a five-thousand yen bill out to Aki. "Here's a list of things we need from the supermarket, and I'm sure this will be more than enough to cover the cost."

She looked down the list. Tea, instant coffee, and cookies and some cakes from a bakery. Simple enough, although she was confused by the instant coffee bit. She thought rich people would like something better than that.

"Hurry now," Kyoya said. "It would be nice if we could have these things before the club opens. Oh, and when you're at the bakery, tell the cashier that everything's for the Host Club. He'll know what to do."

The twins turned Aki around and pushed her out the doors. "Be sure to come back with lots of commoner's coffee!" they said before shutting the doors.

She frowned a bit. _Commoner's coffee? That's what they call it? That's kind of rude._

Aki turned on her heel and headed down the corridor. So far working for these guys didn't seem _too _bad. She was just getting drinks and food for them, and she didn't even have to use her own money! (Not like she couldn't have paid for it. She had more than enough money on her)

"Damn it, damn it," she murmured to herself as she walked down the sidewalk. Her arms were full with bags of instant coffee, tea, and boxes of cookies and cake.

At the super market she'd gotten a basket and grabbed as much instant coffee and fancy-looking (and sounding) tea as she could without going over the budget. She then went to the bakery and told the cashier that she was working for the host club, and he gave her boxes upon boxes of cookies and cakes. At the time the basket wasn't too heavy and she wasn't that far from the exit, so she just stuffed some of the cookie boxes in an extra bag she'd taken just in case, and it was fine for a while. Then as she was walking out of the building the bags started to get heavy and the cakes were weighing down her arms. And what's worse, the cakes were stacked upon each other and she could hardly see over them. She nearly bumped into a few people and was almost run over by a couple kids on their bikes. They'd almost made her drop the cakes!

By the time she got to Ouran she felt like dropping everything and kicking it the rest of the way, but she was pretty sure Kyoya wouldn't be happy with her.

"How about you stop taking a piss and help me?" she said to the fountain as she passed. He just kept peeing.

Aki hesitated when she reached the stairs leading up to the school. She huffed and started climbing up them sideways. She was too afraid of falling backwards and too afraid of dropping the cakes to go up the normal way.

Once she reached the top of the stairs she turned the doorknob on one of the double front doors and pushed it open with her foot. She headed to the club room, having to go up a whole flight of stairs. She was nearly out of breath and her arms were starting to tremble when she finally got to the club room.

She opened the door and stepped inside. She dumped the boxes and bags on Kyoya's table and fell into one of the chairs with a sigh.

"Welcome back," Kyoya said as he typed away on his laptop. "You're just in time."

"You didn't tell me that I would get so many cakes and cookies!" Aki said.

"You shouldn't have gotten so much coffee and tea," he said, peering into the bags. The twins appeared at the table and started pulling out the boxes of instant coffee.

"Wow, Puppy," Hikaru said. "You got a lot."

"This'll last us a while," Kaoru said.

Kyoya stood up and closed his laptop. "Come with me, Aki. And bring the bags and cakes, too."

Aki reluctantly got up and picked up the bags and cakes, then followed Kyoya to a door on the side of the room. He opened it to reveal a large room with a counter and sink on the right side of the room and shelves upon shelves on the left side. The shelves were full of decorative tea sets, dishes, and sweets. There were baskets on a row of shelves with different packs of tea in them. Each basket was labeled with the type of tea it contained. There was one empty basket labeled "Commoner's coffee."

"There is where the cakes go," Kyoya said, gesturing to the shelves where whole cakes were stored. Those had labels, too. "The cookies go next to those, and the tea and instant coffee go in the baskets." He paused and Aki assumed he wanted her to put everything away, so she did.

"Before the club opens you'll make the tea – or coffee, if anyone wants it. You'll set the drinks and snack on the table, then wait to refill empty cups or serve more snacks when the clients or hosts ask for them. You will also clean up after everyone. Oh, and please try not to break anything else while you're doing all of this." Aki stuck her tongue out at him, but then her turned around and her tongue disappeared in a flash. "Understand?"

"Yes," she said with a nod. She finished putting everything away and turned to him. "Anything else, Senpai?"

He nodded and handed her a tray that looked more like a fancy mirror with a tea set on top. "Today's tea is Earl Gray, and I would like chocolate cake at my tables." Then he left.

Aki set the tray down on the counter and waited until she was sure he was gone before stick her tongue out again. She wouldn't break anything else! And it's not like she did it on purpose the first time...

"Puppy!" Her tongue disappeared again when the twins poked their heads into the room.

"What?" she asked.

"We want sugar cookies and red velvet cake at our table. We also want commoner's coffee, not tea," they said, tossing her their two boxes of instant coffee. She fumbled and dropped the first one and the other one hit the floor before she could even reach it and skidded along the floor.

"Boo," the twins called.

"Shut it!" she snapped. They left.

Aki knelt down under one of the shelves and grabbed the coffee. Did they really expect her to catch both of them? One, maybe, but two? And they could have at least warned her first.

"Aki-chan!"

She jumped and hit her head on the shelf. Not to hard, thankfully, but it still hurt.

"Are you alright, Aki-chan?" Honey asked as she sat back and rubbed her head. He was sitting on Mori's shoulders with his bunny in his arms, staring at her with wide eyes.

"I'm fine," she said, getting up. "What are you here for?"

"We wanted to make sure you gave us lots of cake!" Honey said. "And make sure it's strawberry cake with extra strawberries, okay?" Aki nodded. "Thanks, Aki-chan!" They left.

As soon as they were gone Tamaki entered the room. "Aki-chan!" he said in a sing-song sort of way.

"Yes, Senpai?"

"I want cheesecake at my table and commoner's coffee."

"Got it, Senpai." She never knew people other than her aunt drank coffee in the afternoon. What weirdos.

Tamaki left. Aki waited for Haruhi to walk in, but he never showed up. Instead she got Kyoya popping in to tell her that she ought to hurry before the clients walked in.

Aki went straight to making the tea. She got Kyoya's things ready and went out to put them on his table, making sure they looked nice and pretty. Then she did the same with Honey and Mori and the twins. She decided to wing Haruhi's treats and gave him tea and cookies arranged in a spiral like Kyoya's had been the other day. All that was left was Tamaki's things.

Aki finished getting the coffee ready and put it on the mirror tray with the cakes, then headed out to his table. As she was approaching, she overheard Haruhi say something to him.

"Tamaki-senpai, could you please stop comparing me to Oshin?"

Aki nearly slammed the tray down on the table. Haruhi and Tamaki looked at her.

"You watch Oshin?" she asked Tamaki. He blinked.

"_You_ watch Oshin?" he asked. There was a pause, then they grinned at each other.

"No way! I didn't think anyone but my grandparents watched that!" she said.

"I know! What part are you on? I'm nearly done with the whole show."

"Really? I only just got to the part where Oshin saves Kaya from the electricity pole."

"Really?! That's so far back!"

"Well, I only recently started watching it. Oh man, Senpai, did you cry when Shunsaku died?"

"Yes! It was so sad!"

"You cried?" The twins had appeared next to the two sometime during the conversation and were looking between them.

Aki immediately shut her mouth, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Well, only a little," she said. The twins turned on Tamaki, but he ignored them and grabbed Aki's hand.

"We should watch it together sometime! I have the whole show."

"Really?"

"Yeah! It would be great daddy-daughter bonding time!"

"Huh?" That pretty much killed the atmosphere for Aki. What'd he mean by "daddy-daughter bonding time?" Since when was he her "daughter?"

"Ahem," Kyoya said, tapping Tamaki's shoulder. "It's nearly time for the club to open."

"Right! Everyone get in place!"

Immediately the hosts gathered in the middle of the room. The twins pulled a chair over for Tamaki to sit on before they got into their spots. Aki quickly put all of Tamaki's thing on his table and looked around, wondering where she ought to be.

Mori glanced over at her and pointed to the door leading into the snack room. "Stand there," he mouthed. Aki gave him a thumbs up so he knew she understood and took her place in front of the door.

The doors opened and the hosts said, "Welcome."

The girls walked inside, some already giddy. They went with their respective host and the flirting began. Aki watched in silence and messed with the tray in her hands while the hosts entertained their clients. Some of the girls glanced over at her before leaning closer to someone else and muttering something. Aki felt pretty awkward just standing there. She wanted to be moving around if she had to be out there. She was glad when Hikaru and Kaoru called her for whatever reason.

Before she could ask them anything, they grabbed her and then proceeded to show her off to their clients.

"This is our new puppy, Aki Fukuda!" Hikaru said, tousling her hair.

"Isn't she the cutest?" Kaoru asked, pinching her cheek. Aki pushed their hands away and fixed her hair.

"Do you want anything?" she asked. "Or did you call me over just to mess up my hair and pinch my cheeks?"

"Nah, not just that," Hikaru said. "We need more coffee for everyone." He pointed to all the already empty cups.

Aki put the cups onto the tray and went back to make more copy. She came back to the table soon after she had left with fresh coffee.

"It's hot so be careful," she said, putting the cups in front of everyone.

"Thanks!" the girls said. Aki nodded and walked off to go back to her original spot. She had hardly gotten more than a foot away before she heard a hiss come from the table. Glancing back, she saw Hikaru holding Kaoru's chin so Kaoru was looking at him. Hikaru said something about being careful or something along those lines and Kaoru said something else and their clients squealed, but Aki wasn't paying attention. She was hurrying away from them, her cheeks a dark pink.

_I wonder if they ever get uncomfortable with it, _she thought. _How'd they even get the idea in the first place? And how'd they decide that Hikaru would be the seme and Kaoru'd be the uke?_

"Aki-chan!" Tamaki called, waving Aki over to his area. She hurried over, glancing back at Hikaru and Kaoru to see if they were still doing their act. They weren't.

"Need something?" she asked.

"Could you bring us some more coffee and cake?"

"Tamaki, who's this?" one of his clients asked. She must not have been there when the vases broke.

"Ah, allow me to introduce Aki Fukuda," Tamaki said. "She graciously volunteered to help out with the club so Haruhi could focus on his hosting duties."

"Yeah, sure." Aki said.

"Really?" one of the girls said.

"That's so sweet!"

"It's nothing, really. He just looked like he had a lot on his plate." Actually, she didn't notice Haruhi serving the guys very much. She hadn't really paid much attention to him...

"Anyway, I'll be back with your coffee and cake." She went to the snack room and prepared more coffee and grabbed more cheesecake, then put them on Tamaki's table.

The next time she was called to a table it was Honey and Mori's.

"Aki-chan, Aki-chan!" Honey called. He held out a slice of strawberry cake to her. "Here, Aki-chan, have some!"

"Huh? Honey-senpai, I don't think I'm supposed to eat on the job," she said. "Anyway, isn't that the last piece? I'll go get you more."

And she did. She brought out two strawberry cakes and set them on the table. Honey tried getting her to take the cake again but she had to say no. After she walked away her stomach started growling. She hadn't gotten her usual afternoon snack, and her stomach was fine until she said no to cake. It must have been mad at her.

Kyoya called her to his table when the time slots were changing. He told her to get him more tea and cake. She nodded and grabbed the cups and teapot from his table, setting them on the tray. As she was about to walk away, he said, "Don't drop that. If they break, there will be more money added to your debt."

Aki hesitated, then started going back to the snack room, now very aware of how she was holding the tray.

Once she had the cake and tea ready, she went back to Kyoya's table. She almost froze when she noticed who was among his clients.

Rei and Emiko stared at Aki as she approached the table. She quickly (but carefully) set everything down, then turned and walked away.

"Aki-chan?" Emiko said. Aki stopped, then turned around and said, "Later." The girls nodded and turned away from her.

"Aki?" Haruhi said, waving her over.

"More tea?" Aki asked. Haruhi nodded.

"And cookies."

"You got it." Aki left and came back with Haruhi's tea and cookies.

"Thanks," Haruhi said, giving her a smile. She smiled back.

"No problem." _I had to, _she thought.

The rest of the club was pretty much like that. Aki was just hurrying from the snack room to the tables with more drinks and snacks. She was relieved when the second times-lot was over because Rei and Emiko left, so she didn't have to feel their eyes on her anymore.

Sometime later (and hour or so, maybe? She didn't know. She wasn't really paying attention, but it felt pretty long) Tamaki announced that it was closing time. The girls whined, but they eventually got their things and left. Aki sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Done," she muttered, retreating into the snack room. She set the tray on an empty spot on a shelf and grabbed her things. "I'll be going now!" she said as she walked out of the room. "That alright with you, Kyoya-senpai?" He nodded and waved her off.

"We'll walk with you," Hikaru and Kaoru said, appearing at her side.

"We're going home, too," Hikaru said.

"There's no reason to stay today," Kaoru said. Aki wanted to tell them no, but then again it wouldn't be a long walk, and they probably wouldn't annoy her too much, so she just kept her mouth shut.

The three of them walked through the school. Hikaru and Kaoru talked with each other and didn't even say a thing to Aki. Not the she minded, really. It wasn't until they had gotten out to the street that the twins paid attention to her.

"Where are you going?" Hikaru said when Aki had started walking down the sidewalk. She stopped and looked back at them.

"Home," she said like it was obvious.

"Shouldn't you wait for your car?" Kaoru asked. She raised an eyebrow.

"No..."

"Isn't your house far away?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah. I can get there just fine by train."

The twins gave her a weird look, then shrugged and payed no more attention to her when they heard the horn of a car coming up the street. Aki turned around and walked away.

Her phone started to ring. She pulled it out of her school bag and flipped it open.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hi, Aki-chan!" Rei said on the other line. She heard someone in the background and then Rei said, "Emi says hi, too."

"Hi, Rei-chan. Tell Emiko I said hi, too."

"Aki says hi," Rei said, her voice a bit faint. The next time she spoke she was back to her normal volume. "So, Aki-chan. How come you were serving tea and sweets to the Host Club? We asked Kyoya but he wouldn't tell us."

"Oh, that? Well, uh..." She was tempted to tell them that she got a debt from breaking the vases, but instead went with what Tamaki had said. The first option was kind of embarrassing. "I'd volunteered to help out since Haruhi looked like he had his hands full with serving the hosts and entertaining his clients."

"Yeah?" Rei's voice got quieter and she repeated what Aki'd said to Emiko. "Yeah, I'll tell her. Emiko said she thought it was because you broke the vases." Aki bit her lip.

"Oh, no, no. I'd volunteered before that."

"Really? Alright. Well, we were just wondering. By the way, that's pretty sweet of you."

"I know. I mean, a lot of girls told me." It was true. Just before the club ended some girls went up to her and told her that she was such a sweetheart for thinking about Haruhi and things like that.

"Yeah, I'd think that they would. Hey Ak– oh, really? Sorry, Aki-chan. Gotta go. See you tomorrow!"

"See ya."

"Welcome home, Tomi-chan!" Michiko said, hugging her niece as soon as she stepped through the door.

"Hi, Auntie," Aki said. "Auntie, I have to close the door." Michiko scooted back, still with her arms around Aki. She nudged the door with her foot and it swung shut.

Michiko let go and stepped back with her hands on her hips. "So how was your first day on the job?" she asked while Aki locked the door.

"I don't think it can be considered a real job," she said. "I'm not getting paid."

"Well, not everyone gets paid for doing their jobs. Anyway, it's a job. How it go?"

"Fine, I guess. All I was doing was buying things for them and serving them."

"Sounds easy enough. How much longer until the debt is worked off?" Aki shrugged.

"I dunno. Probably until I graduate."

"What?!"

"It _is _sixteen million yen, Auntie."

"I know that, but are you planning on working it _all_ off? You'll be able to pay it off when you reach four million."

"No way. That's my money!"

"We'll have four million left over, Tomi. Most likely more."

"I'd like to still have all our money when I graduate."

"Well...why don't you ask Daiki for the money? He's got more than enough to pay for everything right now."

"I don't want Dad to know about this. Or Mom. Or anyone in my family other than you."

"That's stupid, Tomi-chan."

"Thanks for being subtle about it," Aki muttered, shaking her head.

"Don't shake your head. That's what _I'm _supposed to do. Anyway, that's really stupid, Aki. Your dad would definitely give you the money. I mean, he's pretty generous with your 'allowance', though I don't know why he gives you any. It's not like you clean up your room or do any chores at his house."

"I don't know, either."

"Same thing with your mom! She's got tons of money and she's generous with your allowance! Well, was, until I convinced her and Daiki to let up."

"Yeah, I know. One-thousand a week from each of them."

Michiko rolled her eyes. "I never got that much allowance, and I actually did chores at my parent's house. Maybe I should get them to let up a little more. What do you think?"

"Can we get back on the subject of me not wanting to get Mom and Dad into this?"

"Right! It's stupid and you're wasting time."

"Well, that's what I want to do. I don't have anything else to do after school anyway since Kasumi and Nobuo joined clubs. And, don't you think it's a good lesson? Mrs. Nakamura does."

"A lesson for accidentally breaking something? Sounds like unfair punishment."

"It's teach me to be more careful around rich people and their things," Aki said with a shrug. "Auntie, I'm okay with it. Well, I'm not, but this'll probably be good for me. I'll make friends other than Rei and Emiko, and I'll interact with more people. Hey, maybe this'll help me get a boyfriend." Michiko's face lit up a bit at that.

"I guess there's not talking you into getting help, huh?"

"No. And don't go telling Mom or Dad about this behind my back!"

"I won't, I won't," Michiko said, holding up her hands in defense. "Promise."

"Thank you. I'm gonna go get changed."

"Okay, but hurry! I'm making dinner right now."

"Got it."

Aki headed to her room and set her bag down on her bed before pulling a t-shirt and sweat pants out of her closet. She changed into her clothes, then sat on her bed to take her homework and things out so she could work on them after dinner. She reached inside her bag and was surprised when her hand grabbed some sort of box. She didn't remember putting any box away to take with her. Pulling it out, she found that it was a box of ginger snaps.


	5. Chapter 4

For the rest of the week things generally went the same way: Aki would wake up and immediately be barraged by messages by the twins, then she'd go to school and be pestered by them during the school day (more by Hikaru than Kaoru), she'd eat with Rei and Emiko at lunch (she pretty much forced them to take her back instead of leaving her with the twins), get pestered a little more, go work at the host club, and go home.

Working at the club wasn't as bad as she thought. Sure, it wasn't her favorite job and it wouldn't be first on her list of jobs, but it wasn't too hard. Pretty straightforward, actually. She just served the hosts and clients, dealt with the twins playing around with her, Tamaki being a bit overly dramatic, and Kyoya taunting her, and cleaned up when everyone left. It was just tiring when multiple hosts wanted something at the same time.

Friday finally rolled around after a long week. Aki woke up to the usual texts from the twins (thank goodness she'd gotten free unlimited texting or her bill would probably be sky high!) and one from Kasumi saying, "Good luck!" Aki smiled and replied with, "Good luck to you, too!" It was a usual thing to do between them. Every school day morning since their first year of middle school they'd send each other a "good luck" message.

Aki got herself ready for the day. After she'd finished pulling on her uniform and pulled her gray beanie, she went down to make breakfast. On the table she found an already prepared breakfast: An omelet, a bowl of rice, and a slice of jellied toast. Next to the food was a note from her aunt:

_Tomi-chan,_

_Had to go into work early. Something about a crazy amount of cars already coming in? Anyway, here's breakfast! You'd better eat it all, too, because I worked hard on that omelet!_

_Have a good day at school._

_Love,_

_Auntie._

Aki poked the omelet. Still warm.

"Thanks, Auntie," she murmured before sitting down and picking up her chopsticks.

While she ate, she wondered what today would be like. Like the rest of the days? She sort of hoped not. She wanted _something _interesting or at least a little different to happen. Then again, the rest of the days weren't too bad, they just got uninteresting pretty quickly.

She was soon finished with her breakfast and set her dishes in the sink, then grabbed her bag and coat and headed out the door.

Aki walked to the train station, keeping her pace fast as it always was. She wasn't trying to get out of the neighborhood before any of her friends saw her, no. She was trying to get away before Mrs. Nakamura saw her. She'd gotten caught by that woman more than once and had nearly been late to class more than once.

Thankfully there was no sign of Mrs. Nakamura. There was also no sign of anyone who'd try and talk to her anywhere else. The train ride was nice and quiet for her, and the walk from the station to Ouran was nice. She was playing around with the steam that came out of her mouth and nose in the cold air on the way there, and she'd pretended to be a dragon more than once. She only stopped when she noticed some ladies walking by give her a weird look. After that she was too embarrassed to pretend to be a dragon again, but she still exhaled heavily every now and then to see the steam.

Eventually she'd made it the the school. She shrugged off her coat after stepping inside the warm building. The school was heated in the winter and air conditioned towards summer, which was one thing she liked better about it than Tomoko. Sure, they'd turn on the heat or the air, but only sometimes, and even then it wasn't as good as Ouran.

She stepped into class a couple minutes before the bell rang. The twins didn't immediately pounce on her today, which she was thankful for. Instead, they were talking to Haruhi and only gave Aki a small wave. She waved back at them and sat down.

The school day went better than expected. Hikaru and Kaoru didn't bother her that much and kept most of their attention on Haruhi. They didn't even ask her to sit with them for lunch (although they said they had to go meet with Kyoya, so that was probably why). Rei and Emiko were done asking her about what the hosts did after the club was over. Mostly out of disappointment, Aki figured, since she always left right when the club ended and didn't have anything to tell them about the hosts. She didn't have anyone coming up to her anymore and saying that she was a real sweetheart for helping out or asking her what it was like. Before she knew it, the school day was over and it was time to go to the host club.

Aki got up after packing all of her things into her bag. Hikaru and Kaoru appeared, slinging their arms through hers.

"Don't be late, Haruhi," the twins called back to the boy while walking out with Aki.

"See you later, Aki-chan!" Rei said, waving off Aki along with Emiko.

The twins seemed to be in a hurry to get to the club today. They were speed walking rather than going at their usual leisurely pace. "Something important going on today?" Aki asked.

Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, and the sooner we get to the club room the sooner we can get it over with."

"By the way, don't leave after the club's done," Kaoru said. "There's a meeting."

"A meeting? Shouldn't that be for club members only? Like, actual hosts?" Aki asked. After all, she was just the maid.

"That's what we said," the two said.

"But Tamaki said you're included in the club, even if you are just the maid," Kaoru said. "And Kyoya agreed. So you have to come."

"Okay, then." What kind of meetings did host clubs have, anyway? Were they to come up with new ways to flirt with clients?

As always, when the three of them had gotten there, the two second-years were already there. Aki separated from the twins and waited for everyone to tell her what they wanted at their area before going into the snack room. She dropped her bag off by the door and grabbed a tea pot to start making white tea, being extra careful while preparing it. Apparently this stuff was rare and expensive, and Kyoya'd warned her to not mess up.

Once that was done, she poured a few cups of tea and set everything on a platter. She also grabbed a few red velvet cakes and set them on the platter as well, then took everything out and put them on Kyoya's table.

She went back to the room and made coffee and grabbed vanilla cake for the twins and Tamaki. As soon as she'd finished setting their things down, Honey and Mori walked in. Honey asked for red velvet cake and coffee, so that's what she got him. For Haruhi she got black tea and two platters full of cookies. Not that Haruhi had asked for it. He wasn't even there yet. Aki just gave him whatever, really, and he didn't seem to complain.

Haruhi finally got to the room and a while after that the club started. Aki waited around for the hosts to ask her to get them something to drink or eat. Rei and Emiko visited, now with Tamaki's group, and always smiled when she passed and sometimes gave her a thumbs-up. She smiled back at them. They were supposed to be like her support group, or so Emiko had said. Personally, she didn't think she needed one, but she did like the kind gesture.

The time seemed to fly by during the club. It was like she'd made an abrupt time-skip from the beginning to the end of club hours. Soon the clients were grabbing their things and exchanging goodbyes with the host of their choice, then leaving. Aki waved at them for a quick second before going to put her platter away and picking up her bag. By this time she had forgotten about the meeting and was heading out the door when Kaoru grabbed her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning at him.

"Don't you remember what I said before?" he said. "We've got a meeting."

"Oh." Her face fell a bit. She would have been a little more interested, but for the past half-hour she'd been thinking about dinner. Her aunt said that they'd go to a Chinese restaurant that evening with the Nakamuras and her friend Nobuo and his family. She really hoped this meeting wouldn't take too long and she didn't miss it (not like Michiko wouldn't wait for her, but if she took too long she'd probably just get take-out and that wasn't as fun as eating in the actual restaurant). She also hoped she'd be able to catch a train once it was over since she was missing her usual one.

_I'll have to walk home if I can't catch another train soon, _she thought. _I've never walked home from here, though...But, I'm sure I'll be fine._

Kaoru brought Aki over to the front of the room where sofas had been moved so they made a sort of semi-circle. She sat next to Hikaru on the left-most couch while Kaoru sat on his other side. Kyoya and Haruhi were on the middle couch, and Mori and Honey were on the right-most couch. Tamaki stood in front of them all, a big smile on his face.

"So, what's this all about?" Aki asked.

"Theme Day!" Honey replied.

"'Theme Day?'"

"Yes, Theme Day," Tamaki said, already starting off with an overly dramatic tone. "The day when we don beautiful garments for the pleasure of out dear clients." Aki looked over at the others for a translation. Sure, she had a pretty good idea of what he meant, but she wanted to be certain that what she was thinking was right.

"We dress up," Kyoya said. Everyone else nodded. "The theme of the costumes are different each time."

_So like cosplay? _Aki wondered.

"What's the theme this time, then?" she asked.

"That's what we're here to decide," Tamaki answered. "So, any suggestions? I personally think we should do a royalty theme."

"No way," Hikaru said.

"We already did that once this year," Kaoru said.

"But we didn't have Aki!" Tamaki said.

"I don't think that makes a difference."

"We can do it next school year, Senpai," Haruhi said.

"But –"

"No royalty theme, then," Kyoya said, crossing something out in his notebook. Tamaki pouted. Aki wouldn't admit it, but she kinda wanted to do that royalty theme. It sounded like fun, sort of.

"Maybe we could dress up like bunnies!" Honey said. Playboy bunnies flashed through Aki's mind. She wouldn't be dressing like that. She also wouldn't be dressing up in a hot, full-body bunny costume and have a huge bunny head over her own.

"I don't think so," Kyoya said, scratching something else out. "Any other ideas?"

Everyone looked at Haruhi. He shrugged, although he wasn't paying much attention and was more focused on his homework. They then looked at Aki. She shrugged, too.

"Well, we have an idea," Hikaru and Kaoru said. "Our mom's been wanting to make some new kimonos for us for a while now, so why not wear kimonos for theme day?"

There was a brief silence among the group. Aki was the first to speak up.

"I wouldn't mind that." Maybe she'd get to keep the kimono?

"I like it, too," Haruhi said. Kyoya nodded.

"Me too!" Honey said. "How about you, Takashi?" Mori gave a small nod. "Tama-chan?"

Tamaki opened his mouth, but the twins cut across him. "Seven out of eight already approve of it, so it doesn't matter what he says." Tamaki gave them an irritated look.

"I was going to say yes, anyway," he said.

"Then it's decided. We'll wear traditional kimonos," Kyoya said, writing something down.

"So that's it, right?" Aki asked, starting to get up. She glanced at her watch. If she left now, she'd probably have enough time to catch her usual train.

"Ah, ah, ah." Hikaru grabbed her arm. "Kaoru and I need to take your measurements."

"She's probably a lot like Haruhi's, though," Kaoru said while he and Hikaru got up and moved Aki to the side. "Just with a bigger bust."

The two of them pulled tape measures out of their pockets and started measuring her waist, hips, bust size, arm length, and height, calling measurements out to Kyoya who seemed to write them all down. Aki was about to leave when they put the tape measures away, but they stopped her again and were handed cameras by Honey and Mori. They pulled off her beanie and smoothed out her hair, then started clicking away with the cameras, taking multiple pictures of Aki.

"What's this all for?" she asked while Hikaru took a close-up picture of her face and Kaoru took a few of her hair. "I mean, my face and hair shouldn't matter, right?"

"They'll matter," Hikaru said, backing up to take another full-body picture. "Maybe not for this theme day, but for future ones we're going to need a reference so we know what to do with your hair and make-up."

After a few more pictures they put the cameras away. Aki grabbed her bag and took a step towards the door, keeping her eyes on the twins to see if there was anything else they had to do. They just waved her off.

"See you guys on Monday!" she said, hurrying off. If she ran she might be able to catch the train.

"I'm home!" Aki called, stepping into her house. "Auntie?"

"In the living room," Michiko called. Aki dropped her bag and headed to the living room. Her aunt smiled up at her. She was already dressed in a nice red shirt, skinny jeans, and suede boots. She smelled like jasmine and lavender instead of oil and gas, so she must have taken a bath already.

"How was your day today?" Michiko asked.

"Fine. I apparently have to do this theme day thing at the club next week."

"What's that?"

"Cosplay."

"Oh! So what are you all wearing?"

"Traditional kimonos."

"Really? That sounds interesting."

"And they're being made by Mrs. Hitachiin."

"Really?!" Aki nodded. "Whoa, Tomi-chan! Those will be the best kimonos ever! You've gotta take pictures for me!"

"I will, I will."

"Wow. My little niece wearing a kimono made by Yuzuha Hitachiin...Do you have to go to their house for fitting or anything?"

Aki shrugged. "I didn't ask."

"What? You should have! We could have gotten to meet Yuzuha!"

"Maybe next time I will."

"Oh, your family is going to flip when they find out – In the good way, of course. Manami is going to be so jealous...And Kasumi, too!"

Aki frowned and nodded. "Yeah, Kasumi's gonna be jealous. Maybe I'll get to take it home and she can try it on."

"Yeah, hopefully. Oh, hey, go and get dressed unless you want to eat wearing your uniform. And be quick!"

"You got it, Auntie," she said before heading to her room to change.


	6. Chapter 5

Theme day felt like a nightmare.

Not during the actual club, though. It was the whole time _before _the club started that felt like a bit of a nightmare.

In the morning she found a lot less texts than usual from the twins, but a lot more from Kasumi.

_Good morning!__（＾∇＾）_

_Today's that 'theme day' thing, huh?_

_Send me pictures!_

_Hey._

_Answer me._

_I know you're there, Aki-chan! __(−_−__＃__)_

_Why won't you reply?_

_Mama wants pictures, too._

_So does Tetsuo._

_So send pictures._

_Aki?_

_(^_^*)_

_Have to go. See you later._

_Remember, send me pictures!_

_Bye! __( ´ ▽ ` )__ﾉ_

_Good luck! __o(≧▽≦)o_

Aki only replied ten minutes after she'd sent the last one, sending Kasumi a good luck.

_I knew you were there! _Kasumi sent almost as soon as Aki'd pressed the send button. She rolled her eyes and stuffed her phone into her bag.

She left her house soon after that and as soon as her door was locked she turned around and was suddenly being hugged by a mass of black cloth and buttons.

"Good morning, Suzu-chan!" a boy said, snuggling Aki.

"Get off of me," she muttered, trying to push him away. He chuckled and stepped back.

The boy was pretty tall, standing at about six feet, probably a few more inches if his hair was counted. His hair was styled in a faux hawk and the hair on the sides of his head was cut pretty short aside from two long strands that hung in front of his ears. His hair was jet black except at the top where the tips faded into red. His eyes were light gray but were believed to get darker when he got upset. His skin was a light peach color, free of any blemishes as far as anyone could see. He was wearing a black blazer that was currently unbuttoned, a white dress shirt, a blue tie, black pants, and black dress shoes. An earring hung from his right ear. It was a small white skull with three small bones leading from the skull to his ear.

This boy was Nobuo Kawaguchi, one of Aki's best friends and her ex-boyfriend.

"Good morning, Suzu-chan," Nobuo said again. He adjusted Aki's hat which had become lopsided when he'd hugged her.

"Good morning, Nobuo-kun," Aki said. "What are you still doing here? Shouldn't you already be heading to school?"

"Yep, but I wanted to see one of my most favorite gals before I headed off," he said, grinning at her.

"Sure you did."

"That and I had to collect the 'stuff'. Almost forgot it." He motioned to the duffel bag hanging off of his shoulder. "By the way, you want something? I could get it for you after school."

"No, I don't want anything. I'm not even carrying enough money for anything besides the train fee and my lunch, so I can't pay you."

"What? Really? Suzu, you gotta carry your money with you! What if some one breaks into your house and steals your money?"

"What if someone attacks me and steals my money? Anyway, I'm just going to school. It's not like I need all my money."

"True, but you should still have some on you."

Aki checked her watch. "I've gotta get to the train station."

"Right, right, you're not fortunate enough to walk to school anymore. Poor girl. Well, bye, Suzu-chan," he said, hugging her again before walking off. This time she hugged him back. "And take lots of pictures for me, alright?"

"You got it." She continued to the train station then.

After getting off at the station, she was met by Jin and two of his and Michiko's coworkers who pestered her about taking pictures (apparently Michiko had told everyone at her job). She had to pinky-promise them she would for them to let her go to school.

At school all the girls were excited for the club to start. Aki walked into class to find almost all the girls in class surrounding Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi's desks (and because there were girls at Hikaru's desk it was hard for Aki to get to her own desk). When Aki finally sat down Rei and Emiko appeared in front of her desk, also excited about the club.

"What's the theme going to be?" Emiko asked. Aki opened her mouth to answer but a hand covered it.

"She's not allowed to say," Hikaru said, his head right next to her own. She pulled his hand away.

"Why can't I tell them?" she asked, turning to him.

"Yeah, why can't she? What's the harm in telling us?" Rei asked. The other girls apparently had focused on the conversation and started muttering among each other in agreement.

"They never tell us," Emiko muttered.

"There's no surprise if we tell you," Kaoru said. "And it's not fun."

"Plus Tamaki told us not to tell," Hikaru said.

Just then the bell rang. The girls went back to their seats and Hikaru leaned back into his seat.

Girls weren't just pestering them during class, though. During lunch (in which she had to sit with Hikaru and Kaoru) they were surrounded by girls from the other first-year classes, too (though they only cared about talking to the twins. Aki was just...there). While she was eating she was listening to girls pester the twins about what the theme was and guess. The two would shake their heads at every answer, even when some girls said the right answer.

"Why won't you guys tell them?" Aki asked when the bell for the end of lunch ran and the girls had left.

"We already said why," Hikaru said.

"I know, but still."

"Tamaki's the one who said we weren't allowed to. He likes it to be a surprise and says he loves to see the expressions on the girls' faces when they walk in," Kaoru said.

"It's annoying, though."

"What do you care?" Hikaru asked. "You already know what it is."

"Yeah, but if I didn't I'd be pretty irritated."

"Don't worry about it, Puppy," Hikaru said, rubbing her head and messing up her hat and hair.

"Yeah, it's only a little while longer 'til the club starts," Kaoru said while Aki fixed her hair.

"Hey, also, what do the ki–"

"Shh, don't let them hear you," Hikaru said, covering her mouth. "We won't tell you what it looks like, either."

"Can't wait to see the look on _your _face!" Kaoru said, grinning.

Aki walking into the club room with Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi. The others were there already and seemed to be waiting for them.

Aki gaped at the room. She was certain only yesterday it had been the normal club room. Now, however, it was styled like a traditional Japanese room. When stepping inside there was a small wooden fence to lead them into the room and a square sign that said "Host Club." Inside the room was a platform raised a bit off the ground and was covered in tatami mats, a pink paper wall that separated it from other sections of the room, a smaller, yellow wall with a painting of flowers on it, and shelves with vases and decorative plates on display. Other sections were similar, though most had solid red floors instead of tatami mats and they had couches and seats whereas the other one just had two mats to sit on. Various plants were placed next to couches and tables (which she noticed already had drinks and snacks on them).

The hosts were already in their kimonos which looked magnificent. Tamaki's was a light brown with an even lighter brown lines that traced out flower patterns on the kimono and a few yellow flowers on his shoulders, waist, and legs, he had a white nagajuban, and he had on a dark purple obi. He wore a long haori that was colored yellow to orange with more flowers on it. The neckline of his kimono was rather low and showed his chest.

Kyoya's was simpler. It was colored brown with some small, lighter brown flowers dotting the kimono and three larger flowers on his shoulder. He had a brownish-orange nagajuban under the kimono and his obi was light green. His neckline wasn't as low at Tamaki's but still showed some of his chest.

Honey's was more decorative than Kyoya's. His kimono was green and had light green flowers all over the place, and he had on a white nagajuban and a dark blue obi. He had a pink haori that was a bit dark and made the cherry blossom pattern stand out. His neckline was higher than Tamaki's and Kyoya's, though it still showed a bit of his chest.

Mori's kimono was rather plain. It was only dark blue with a dull red obi and a yellow-green nagajuban, the neckline was a little higher than Tamaki's (but not by much), and there was no haori or anything. It still looked magnificent on him, though.

_This is theme day, huh? _Aki thought. So far, she liked it.

"Hurry and get dressed!" Tamaki said, grabbing Aki and Haruhi. "I want to see how the kimonos look on my cute daughters!"

_Daughters? _Aki wondered.

Tamaki opened up a room (it looked like a dressing room) and pushed them in.

"The one on the left is Haruhi's and the one on the right it Aki's," he said before closing the door. Aki's eyes immediately zeroed in on the mannequins in the middle of the room, both wearing kimonos.

One kimono was pale green with even paler green flowers and leaves on in and it had an extremely light and pale blue haori with light pink flowers in clusters on it, and the neckline was pretty high, showing nothing of the mannequin's chest. A dark blue nagajuban was under that and under the nagajuban was the white juban. A dark blue obi hung around the neck. The other kimono was dark blue with lighter blue flowers appearing from top to bottom where they ended up looking like a sea of flowers and the color faded into white (same thing with the crazy long sleeves). The nagajuban was green and it had a juban under it, and the neckline of this kimono was as high as the other one.A green obi was around the mannequin's neck. There was no haori with this one.

Aki put her bag down walked up to the mannequins. The blue one was on the right, so that was hers. She pulled it off of the mannequin and inspected it. She would have gotten changed then, but Haruhi was there. _Why _exactly was he there?

"Hey, Haruhi –" She glanced over and stopped talking when she noticed that Haruhi had taken off his blazer and shirt. Underneath was a tank top and Aki noticed another strap under the tank top's strap. A bra strap. Glancing at Haruhi's chest, she also saw that Haruhi had breasts.

"You're a girl?!" she exclaimed. Haruhi looked over at her and nodded.

"No one told you?" he – no, _she_,_–_ asked.

"No!"

Dark red blush flared up on Aki's cheeks. For a moment she found it hard to believe, but as she thought about it she could see Haruhi being a girl. She was very pretty, for one, her eyes had a feminine look to them, and her voice, though deeper other girls, was higher than most boys and a lot more girlish. She felt stupid for not realizing that Haruhi was a girl sooner. Even her name sounded like a girl's name. She never heard of a boy named Haruhi before. Haru, yeah, but not Haruhi.

"Why are you wearing the boy's uniform, then?" Aki asked. "And you use 'ore' and 'boku'and all...What's that about?"

"It's sort of a long story," Haruhi said.

"Then give me the short version."

Haruhi paused for a moment. "I broke a vase, they gave me a male uniform, and I have to work as a host."

Aki frowned. "Give me the long version."

"We have to get dressed," Haruhi said with a small sigh.

"Oh, yeah." Aki frowned again and set her kimono back on the mannequin. "You get dressed first, and I'll wait outside."

"Okay...?"

She left the room. When she stepped outside she found Tamaki waiting in font of the door. He looked disappointed to see her.

"Aki-chan? Why aren't you wearing your kimono?" he asked. "Don't you like it?"

"I do, I do, but I don't like changing with other people." That was mostly true. The only exceptions were her family and Kasumi. Other than them she refused to change with anyone else.

Kyoya walked up to her and inspected her face. "Judging by your blush I'm guessing you found out that Haruhi's a girl?" That made her blush even more.

"Yeah. How come you guys didn't tell me?"

"We wanted to see how long it would take you to find out."

"You could have done me a favor and saved me the embarrassment," she mumbled.

"If it makes you feel any better, all the other girls in school believe that Haruhi's a boy."

Aki was quiet. Honestly, it did make her feel better.

The twins came out of the dressing room (boy's dressing room, she guessed) then and Tamaki went over to them, inspecting their kimonos.

"Aki, you do know that you aren't allowed to tell anyone about Haruhi's gender, right?" Kyoya said.

"No, I didn't, but now I do. But, can I tell my aunt?" Michiko wouldn't tell any of the students. She didn't even know any of Ouran's students.

Kyoya nodded. "I don't see any harm in it," he said.

"Good."

"Puppy?" Hikaru and Kaoru appeared in front of Aki.

Their kimonos were matching. They were blue with thin darker blue vertical stripes on them and large green, orange, and red flowers on their shoulders, arms, waists, and below their waists. The obis were dark green, and their nagajubans were dark purple. She noticed that they also had pale green hair clips on.

"Why aren't you wearing your kimono?" Hikaru asked as the two of them gave her an irritated look.

"Our mother worked hard on it," Kaoru said, crossing his arms.

"Haruhi's in there," Aki said, nodding towards the dressing room.

"So? You're both girls," Hikaru said. "What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I don't like changing around people, even other girls."

The door to the girls' changing room opened and bumped Aki in the back.

"Oops," Haruhi muttered. "Sorry, Aki."

"Haruhi!" Suddenly Tamaki was hugging Haruhi and twirling her around, gushing about how cute she was. The twins left to go calm down Tamaki and compliment Haruhi. Aki slipped into the dressing room to change.

It took a while to get dressed in the kimono. All the layers were fine, yeah, it was just the sashes she had trouble with. First there was the karihimo, then there was the datejime, and finally the obi. Sounded simple. However, she didn't want to wear the karihimo. That was just to keep everything up while she was getting dressed. She forgot that she didn't want to wear it, though, and when she'd realized that it was still on she'd already tied the obi. The obi was a pain, too. She'd never really perfected the art of tying one (she never had to know how, so she never learned), and she wasn't about to ask anyone for help. One reason was because she'd be embarrassed. They'd all tied their own obis (or it seemed like they had. And, anyway, the male obi looked pretty simple) and she'd be embarrassed to be the only one who didn't know how. The other reason was because she was stubborn. She didn't need anyone's help with this. She'd figure it out sooner or later.

She thought it was easy at first. All she had to do was tie it in the front and turn it to the back when she was done. However, she'd tied it too tightly. Then she tried again, but it was too loose. She tried tying it in the back, but it was loose and messy. She also found that the way she was tying it definitely looked wrong.

"Aki!" The door slammed open and Aki jumped. The obi (which had just been untied once again) slipped from her hands and onto the floor.

"Are you alright, Aki-chan?" Honey asked. He and Mori stood in the doorway.

"I'm fine," she said, picking up the obi. "I'll be out soon."

They walked over to her and Honey grabbed the obi. "Are you having trouble with this?" he asked.

"No, I'm fine."

"What's going on in there?" The twins poked their heads into the room.

"Aki-chan's just having trouble with her obi," Honey said.

"I said I'm alright," Aki said.

"Well hurry up, Aki," Hikaru said. "We need to do your hair."

"Takashi can help you!" Honey said to Aki. She shook her head and started trying to tie the obi again, but Mori took it out of her hands and started tying it in the back. Aki felt pretty embarrassed. She couldn't do something as simple as that...

"Finished," Mori said. She tried to look behind her for whatever reason, but that wasn't happening. All she could see was part of a large bow.

"Finally." Hikaru and Kaoru walked in and pulled Aki to the side. Hikaru started brushing her hair back and put it into a bun. Kaoru stuck a blue clip in her hair so it would stay in place (the clip had different shades of blue on it and seemed to sparkle when she moved. It also had three beads hanging from the end). He smoothed out her kimono before they pulled a full-length mirror in front of her.

She was more in awe at the kimono than she was at herself. It had looked beautiful on the mannequin but even more so when it was actually on a person. She turned from side to side to try and see as much as she could. Mori had tied a large bow in the back and it sure looked better than anything she could have done. And, her hair was pulled back into a neat bun (save for part of it which Hikaru left in front of her face) with the pretty clip in it, but she didn't care so much about her hair.

"Your mom did a really good job!" Aki said.

"We know," they said.

"You look cute, Aki-chan!" Honey said. "Don't you think so, Takashi?" Mori nodded.

_I think you mean the kimono looks cute, _Aki thought. She wouldn't say it out loud, though. She didn't want to seem like she was putting herself down or trying to be called cute a couple more times. Once was quite enough. Plus, the only thing that changed about herself was her hair. If she looked cute then it was because of the kimono.

"Hey, can you guys take a couple pictures for me?" she asked the twins. "My friends and family have been asking for some."

"Sure, why not?"

"Great, thanks." She pulled her phone out of her bag and handed it to Kaoru. He opened it and got to the camera app and took a few pictures, but then stopped.

"Well?" he said.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to pose or anything?"

"No."

Kaoru rolled his eyes and looked at Hikaru. Hikaru nodded and walked over to Aki and proceeded to move her into a pose.

"I said I didn't want to pose," she said.

"What good is a picture if you're just standing there?" he said, keeping her still.

"It's a picture on my phone."

"Doesn't mean it can't be good. Just stay like that."

He stepped back and Kaoru took a picture. Then Hikaru stepped forward and started to pose with Aki. She wasn't very into it at first, but then they got Honey and Mori (who were just leaving) to join in and she started to get a little more into it, enough for her to have a couple more solo pictures. The last picture taken before they let her go was of her and Kaoru, both with big smiles on their faces and holding up peace signs with their fingers.

"Thanks, you guys," she said, taking her phone back.

"No problem," they said.

She stuffed her phone back into her bag, then followed the twins out of the room. As soon as she stepped outside she was being hugged by Tamaki.

"My daughter looks so cute!" he squealed, spinning her around a few times. She wasn't going to lie, it was actually kind of fun.

"Thanks, Tamaki-senpai," she said once he'd finally let go. "You look pretty good." She glanced at his shoulder and noticed a ponytail resting there. Where'd that come from? She was pretty sure Tamaki didn't have any long piece of hair. Maybe it was an accessory of sorts. But how do you attach a ponytail to hair?

"Really? You think so?" She nodded and his smile grew a little wider, if possible.

"Excuse me," Kyoya said, pulling Aki to the side. "I need to give you today's snacks." He gestured to the table behind him. A three tier plate stand sat on the table. The largest plate had manjyu on it. The second had different types of yokan, each color arranged in rings. The third was wagashi shaped like camellias and narcissus flowers. Around the end of every plate were branches with flowers on the ends. The branches were set in a circle with the petals of one flower nearly touching the petals of another and the ends of the branches touching.

"Whoa," Aki muttered as she stared at everything. Her mouth was starting to water and her stomach rumbled, albeit very quietly. "What are the drinks, then?"

"Green tea," Kyoya said as if it were obvious. She looked at him and he motioned to the platter beside the stand which was full of cups of green tea.

"Oh."

"You don't have to prepare anything this time," he said. "We've had every platter and every stand prepared. All the replacement sweets and drinks are in the other room. All you have to do is replace snacks and drinks when they run out. Oh, and try to refrain from dropping or spilling anything on the kimono. It is only a rental, after all, and we wouldn't want to return it to Mrs. Hitachiin with a stain, would we?" He had a warning tone, and she was pretty sure if she messed up the kimono she'd end up paying dearly.

"I'll be careful," Aki said. "Promise." Too bad it was a rental only. But, she shouldn't have expected anything else. The kimonos were just one time things. Why should everyone keep them? They wouldn't need to wear them again unless there was another traditional kimono theme, but then they probably wouldn't wear the same things twice.

_Maybe I can get Mrs. Hitachiin to make me a kimono when I'm twenty, _she thought. That way she'd be able to keep it.

"It's almost time!" Honey said.

"Everyone get ready!" Tamaki said.

"Aki, get a chair for Tamaki," Kyoya said before moving to get into his spot in front of the door.

Aki glanced around and saw an armchair with red cushions and a dark wooden frame. She grabbed it and hurried over to where the others were gathered. She set the chair behind Tamaki and he immediately sat down. Kyoya waved her off and she went to her usual spot.

The doors opened and the host club gave their usual greeting. A couple girls squealed as soon as they saw the hosts.

"They're wearing kimonos!" Aki heard one girl say.

"The kimonos are so beautiful!"

"They're magnificent!"

"Look at Honey-senpai!"

"Look at Haruhi!"

"The twins are wearing matching kimonos!"

Aki watched the girls flood in. A some girls noticed her and walked over to tell her about how cute she looked. She'd gotten quite a few comments on how she looked like a doll.

"Aki-chan!" Rei and Emiko appeared in front of her. She grinned at the two of them.

"You look so cute!" Rei said.

"Thanks."

"Wow..." Emiko stared at the kimono. "That looks really good. Where'd you get it?"

"Hikaru and Kaoru's mom made it," Aki said, nodding towards the twins.

"Of course she did," Rei said.

"Mrs. Hitachiin's work always looks amazing," Emiko said. "And it looks magnificent on you, Aki!"

"Thanks, Emiko. Who are you guys here for this time?"

"Honey and Mori."

"Honey-senpai looks adorable!" Rei said, turning her attention on Honey. "Don't you guys think so?" Emiko and Aki nodded.

"Hard to believe he's a third year," Aki said.

"And the oldest of the hosts," Emiko added.

"What? No way!"

"Yeah. You really didn't know that, Aki?"

"No!" It was already hard to imagine Honey being older than her, but being older that _everyone_? That was even harder. She was pretty sure it was Mori who was the oldest.

"We have to go," Rei said. "We'll see you later, Aki-chan!"

"Bye, Aki," Emiko said while Rei pulled her away.

"Bye," Aki said.

The hosts went to their different sections. Aki stood by and watched everyone. Tamaki, of course, went right to flirting. She didn't know how he could still do it. He'd been flirting since the beginning of the school year! She would be sick and tired of it by now if she were in his shoes. Maybe they had these theme days so they could use the costumes to their advantage and come up with new things to say.

She glanced away for a moment to see what Honey and Mori were doing (Honey was just posing for the clients and Mori was standing by) and when she looked back she noticed that Tamaki was crying. Immediately she felt alarmed.

What happened? When did it happen? She'd only look away for a couple seconds! The girls didn't say anything, did they? They couldn't have, because he was smiling (and they pretty much loved him, so why would they?). He didn't look like he was hurt, either. So what happened?

She wanted to see if anything was wrong out of pure curiosity, but decided against it. He was probably alright Maybe it was a flirting technique? She'd never heard of that kind of technique before, but it was possible. What a weird way to do it, though.

Aki rocked on her feet. No one needed anything yet, so she didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do. She didn't like just standing around like this. It felt awkward.

There were loud squeals off to the side. She looked towards where they had come from, but looked away almost instantly. It was just the twins doing their thing again and Kaoru was crying.

"First time I've seen him cry over anything," she mumbled. Usually when he and Hikaru did their routine he blushed a lot instead of tearing up. Okay, maybe he'd teared up once or twice, but it wasn't as much as it was now.

There was a bit more standing around for Aki to do. She looked at the snacks and drinks and noticed that they'd hardly been touched. She could understand not eating because the girls were more interested in the kimonos, but still...it felt a little pointless for that all to be out there and not be eaten. The poor food...

Her stomach grumbled and she rubbed it. Soon, she'd get to eat. Soon.

There were a couple more squeals. Aki, hoping to get out of the spot she'd been standing in for the last half hour, headed to the sound of the squealing. She leaned around one of the walls and noticed Haruhi holding a beautiful pink teacake and a small crowd of girls gathered around, a bit teary eyed. Tamaki stepped in front of her and leaned down, placing another teacake in her hand. She looked rather irritated.

Aki walked over to the twins. "What happened?" she asked.

"We gave Haruhi a teacake and she said she'd put it at her mom's grave, then the girls started getting all teary," Hikaru said. Kaoru nodded.

"Here, Haruh-chan, I'll give you mine!" Honey said, putting another teacake in Haruhi's hand.

"I don't need this much!" Haruhi exclaimed. Aki frowned a little. She wanted a teacake, too. Maybe two, so she could bring one back to Auntie.

"Oh?" Aki looked up at Hikaru who was looking towards the entrance. There was a girl there, but Aki'd never seen her before. It wasn't much of a surprise, the school was large so she didn't know everyone, but it was interesting to see someone new.

Kaoru noticed the girl, too. "Well aren't you a new face?" he said, smiling at her. "What's wrong? Just come on in."

"Come!" Honey said, having noticed the girl, too.

"Hey! Be softer to the new guest," Tamaki snapped at the two before walking over to the new girl. "Don't be scared, princess. Welcome to the Ouran Host–"

At that moment the girl slapped Tamaki away. Aki's eyebrows raised. Now _that _was something she had never seen before.

"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU FAKER!" the girl screamed. Tamaki stumbled back. Apparently nothing like that had ever happened to him before. "I cannot _BELIEVE _you're recognized as a prince in this club! A prince shouldn't sprinkle his love so easily! It makes girls' hearts tremble if you smile with sorrow, but why do you look so _stupid_!? It's as if you're a lightheaded _NARCISSIST_! _USELESS_! Too ordinary! YOU'RE THE _WORST_!"

Tamaki fell back from theshock. Aki was frozen in shock. She didn't know who this girl was, but she didn't think that she and Tamaki knew each other (if they had he probably would have greeted her like a friend), and he hadn't even said anything super flirtatious to her, so why was she yelling at him?

"Kyoya-sama!" she suddenly said, turning to Kyoya. She was crying. Then she hugged Kyoya and Aki's blood ran a bit cold. Kyoya didn't seem to be the huggy type. How would this end? "I wanted to see you so badly...My one and only prince..."

"Who is that?" Aki asked. Kyoya look at the hosts who were gathered together (except for Tamaki who was still in shock) and gave them a sort of "You know what to do" look, but Aki sure didn't know what to do.

"Sorry everyone!" Honey said, turning to the clients. "We have to end early!" They all started to groan and whine.

"But, before you leave, you should do us a favor!" the twins said. That got their attention.

"See, Aki-chan's family and friends have been asking for pictures of her in her kimono," Hikaru said.

"But she hasn't been able to take very many because of the club," Kaoru said.

"Wait, what are you–?" Hikaru put a finger over Aki's lips.

"It would be a big help to us if you could all take pictures with Aki-chan so she's got something to take to her family!" Hikaru said.

"And, who knows, maybe you all could end up in the next picture book!" Kaoru added. That seemed to get them really interested.

"Let's do it!" one girl said.

"Yeah! Pictures with Aki!"

"Alright! Just step outside the club room for a moment and a photographer will be out in a bit!" Honey said.

"I never agreed to this!" Aki snapped at the twins.

"Just keep them busy for a while," Kaoru murmured. "At least until we can get that girl off of Kyoya and Tamaki back on his feet."

"Go on now," Hikaru said, nudging Aki. She sighed but ended up walking out of the club room with the girls. She didn't want to do it, but then again at least she was actually getting to do something.

Soon after everyone was outside, Emiko came out with a camera in her hands. Rei directed the girls and got them to line up. When the first girl went up they posed together, though Aki had to bend down a little because she was taller than the girl. Emiko smiled and took a few pictures, then they switched poses and took a few more. After that the next girl went, and then the next girl, and then the next girl, and so on. Aki's face started to hurt after a while.

It seemed like forever, but finally the last two girls (who happened to be Rei and Emiko) got their pictures taken and left. Aki twisted the camera around in her hands and shook her head. Her family and friends were going to have a lot of pictures. So many that she was pretty sure they'd get sick of them.

She went back into the club room, rubbing her tired cheeks. All the smiling really hurt.

Inside there was only the girl who sat on a couch, apparently waiting for the others to come back. Aki awkwardly made her way to the dressing room, but the girl didn't seem to be paying any attention. Haruhi stepped out of the dressing room just as Aki reached it.

"Give this to the twins for me," she said, handing Haruhi the camera.

She hurried inside and pulled off her kimono and hair clip, setting them on the mannequin. Then she grabbed her dress and pulled that on as quickly as she could. She didn't want someone popping in and seeing her in only her underwear. After she was dressed she grabbed her bag and stepped back outside, deciding to put her shoes on out there.

The others were out there now. Tamaki was sulking in a corner while everyone else was gathered around the girl. Aki slipped her shoes on and listened to the conversation.

"Fiance?" the twins said. "Kyoya-senpai's?" Kyoya had a fiancee? Why didn't he tell anyone?

"Yes! I'm Renge Hoshakuji. I'll be in grade 10 class A from tomorrow."

So there was a new student in her class. Well, she hoped they got along, or at least Renge wouldn't bother her much.

Aki walked over to the hosts after her shoes were on. They were all looking at Tamaki.

"See, he's angry," Kaoru said. Tamaki seemed to be sulking even more now.

"All because Mom was hiding something from Dad," Hikaru said.

"Mom?" Aki asked.

"Kyoya-senpai," he said.

"Tamaki's the dad," Kaoru said.

"Whatever, but will you keep that couple status from now on?" Kyoya asked, a little irritated.

"It was really love at first sight," Renge said with a sigh, apparently not paying attention to what they had been saying. "Being affectionate to the backyard's plants which nobody paid attention to...kindly stretching his hand out to the injured kitty..." Aki raised an eyebrow. Kyoya didn't seem like the kind of guy to do that. But this person did sound familiar. Where did she know him from?

"It must be the wrong person," Haruhi said.

"Wait, Haruhi, you should be more polite to Kyoya-senpai!" the twins said.

"NO! My eyes are justice!" Renge yelled. "Kind to everyone, and never asks for anything in return! Loves the solitude but actually hate the loneliness!" Who was she talking about? "The throbbing love simulation game...YOU!" Renge said, pointing at Kyoya. "Who looks like Ichijo Miabi-kun from _Uki Doki Memorial_!"

Oh! That's who it was! Aki remembered the guy now. Kasumi loved Ichijo (though she was pretty infatuated with the other characters as well) and had been obsessed with the game at one point, and, Aki wasn't going to lie, she had been pretty into it, too.

The others (aside from Kyoya) seemed to be freaking out. Aki couldn't tell if it was because Renge had compared Kyoya to a video game character, or because she had that otaku vibe.

"I see," Kyoya said. "A girl with a lot of interest in characters. She replaces me with her favorite character, makes me her fiance, and gets lost in her wild fantasies..."

"Her wild fantasies...? Isn't she your fiance...?" Tamaki asked. Kyoya smiled a bit and shook his head.

"I don't remember affirming that fact even once." Tamaki seemed pretty relieved.

"From what I've seen from the report, you're managing everything in this club, Kyoya-sama?" Renge said.

"Yes!" Honey replied. "Kyo-chan is the store manager."

"The store manager! It suits him very well! Oh, it was my dream to be a draw-girl for the store!"

"We don't need one; we're a host club," Hikaru said.

"We're not a bakery," Kaoru said. "And, anyway, if we needed a draw-girl we'd just get Aki to do it."

"No you wouldn't," Aki said. That wasn't in her job description.

The twins raised their eyebrows. "Yes, we would," they said, looking and sounding like they fully intended to force her to wear a sandwich board.

"I've decided!" Renge exclaimed, drawing their attention. "At the same time I'll prepare to be a bride, I'll be an administrative assistant for the Host Club!"

Aki glanced at Kyoya. He wouldn't really let some random girl make herself part of the club, right? It's not like she had a debt, so why should she join? And there were a bunch of other girls Aki knew who'd kill to work with the club. Kyoya knew it, too. He got few girls come up to him about joining ever since Aki had "joined".

"Kyoya..." Tamaki muttered.

"She's the daughter of one of the important business partners of my family," Kyoya explained. "Please take good care of her." Tamaki let out a small sigh.

"...As you heard."

"Haruhi." Him and the twins turned on Haruhi. She looked a little scared.

"This is part of your host training, Haruhi!" Tamaki cried while he, the twins, and Mori and Honey ran off. Hikaru grabbed Aki and pulled her away with them. "Father will be cold-hearted!"

Everyone ended up outside the club room. Aki pulled her arm away from Hikaru.

"So, we're just going to leave her alone with Renge?" she asked. Not like she wanted to go back though. Well, okay, maybe she did, but only to talk about Uki Doki Memorial. Then again, she didn't want the hosts to over-hear her...

Tamaki nodded. "Sadly, we have to leave them alone. But it will be good for Haruhi to bond with another girl!"

"You just don't want to be in the same room as Renge, right, M'lord?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked.

"Since she called you a fake prince," Aki added. "That's why you don't want to be the one to take care of her." Tamaki frowned at her.

"No! I just want my daughter to bond with another girl, and it _is _good host training."

"Whatever you say, Senpai." There was a pause and she waited for someone to say something. When they didn't, she turned on her heel and started walking away. "Bye."

"Where are you goin?" Hikaru and Kaoru said, grabbing her.

"Home. The club's over."

"Don't you want to stay?"

"Why?"

"We're going to spy on Haruhi and Renge."

"Not interested. I just want to go home." They huffed but stepped aside.

"Wait, Aki-chan!" Honey grabbed her hand. When she looked down at him he held out a green box. "Here!"

"Thanks?" She took the box and opened it to find manjyu, yokan, wagashi, four of the flowers that had been on the plates, and two teacakes. "Whoa!"

"Me and Takashi noticed you looking at the snacks like you were hungry, so we wanted to give you some," Honey said. "Oh, and the big flowers are edible!"

"Really?" She smiled at Honey and Mori. "Thanks, you two!" They nodded.

"We'll send you the pictures later," Kaoru said. Aki nodded and waved to the hosts.

"See ya," she said, continuing down the hallway with a smile on her face.

"Bye!" the twins and Tamaki chorused.

"Bye, Aki-chan!" Honey said. Mori waved.

Michiko squealed and pulled Aki into a hug, rocking her a bit on the couch. "Tomi-chan, you look _adorable_!"

"Auntie, be careful," Aki said, her voice muffled by her aunt's arms. "You almost hit my phone."

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself!" She laughed and released her niece. "You really do look cute, though. And the kimono looks amazing! Tomi, you should have Yuzuha make your Coming-of-Age Day kimono!"

"That what I was thinking."

"Okay, show me the next one."

Aki nodded and went to the second of many pictures. Michiko grinned, but when they reached the fourth picture it was pretty much gone.

"You're so stiff. Pose more," she said, pushing Aki.

"It gets better," Aki said, pushing Michiko. "I promise. Hikaru and Kaoru didn't like that I wasn't posing, either. Just wait a bit."

She showed a few more pictures, then finally the first of the poses came. Michiko laughed when she saw it.

"You still look stiff," she said, shaking her head.

"Well I didn't want to pose," Aki muttered.

"Why not? Pictures are boring when you're just standing there. Plus, you pose with me and Kasumi and Nobuo when we take sticky-pictures. And with pretty much anyone else."

"I'm comfortable enough to pose with those guys, though," Aki said. "Anyway, next picture." She went to the next picture in which Hikaru was posing with her. Michiko grinned.

"Who is that?" she asked.

"Hikaru Hitachiin," Aki said.

"Really? He's pretty cute, Tomi-chan," Michiko said, elbowing Aki and wiggling her eyebrows. Aki shook her head and pushed Michiko.

"Shut up, Auntie," she said with a laugh.

"But you think so too, right?"

"Well, yeah. But it's not like I like him more than a friend. I'm still getting used to being his friend."

Michiko chuckled. "Okay, next picture."

They flipped through a few more pictures of Aki and Hikaru, then came Aki and Honey. Michiko practically squealed.

"He's so cute!" she said. "Who is he?"

"Mitskuni Haninozuka," Aki said. "He's actually a third year at school."

"What? No way! He looked like he should be in elementary school!"

"Nope. He's in high school. And get this: He's older than everyone!"

"No! This kid? That's impossible!"

"That's what I was thinking! And wait until you see Mori. You'll really doubt that Honey's the oldest then."

They went through a couple more pictures of Aki and Honey (Michiko always commented on how adorable Honey looked) before reaching one of Aki, Honey, and Mori.

"This is Takashi Morinozuka," Aki said, pointing to Mori. Michiko gasped.

"He's so handsome!" She looked at Aki to see if she thought the same. Aki kept her mouth shut, and after a moment Michiko's eyebrows raised and she looked between Aki and the picture. "You know..."

"I don't like him, Auntie!" Aki snapped.

"But Tomi! He's so handsome."

"Auntie," Aki said in a dead serious tone.

"Tomi," Michiko said in the same tone.

"_Auntie_."

"_Hitomi_."

"I don't like him, Auntie! I don't even talk to him."

"Then start talking to him! Oh, I can see it now! You and Mori, dating! Then married! Then having kids! Who would look just as handsome as their father and as beautiful as their mother!"

Aki shook her head. This woman...

"Oh, but maybe somewhere along the way Mori would get engaged by his family who don't want him dating you! But he still loves you and you secretly see each other! Oh, and he could leave you cute little notes! Oh, and what if there's a problem when you get married where someone kidnaps you and Mori has to be the hero and save the day?"

"You watch too much TV," Aki said, shaking her head. At least this time she wasn't shot at her own wedding. "Anyway, that's not happening. I don't talk to him much and I don't like him."

"You guys would be pretty cute, though," Michiko muttered.

"Moving on."

Aki went through some more pictures and ended up in the ones were it was just her and Mori. She could feel Michiko smiling and was pretty sure she was thinking up some other odd scenarios for this fantasy romance. Then there were a few solo pictures, some with Kaoru, a couple with the twins, another one with Hikaru, and the last one with Kaoru. (She was pretty sure Michiko was making up fantasy romances for her and the twins, too.)

"I'm going to have to delete these after I show everyone else," Aki said, mostly to herself. She only had but so much space in her photo gallery.

"Don't delete them _all_," Michiko said.

"I'm not going to delete them _all_," Aki said. "Oh, there are a ton more coming, though. Hikaru and Kaoru told the girls that I needed to take pictures, so they had Emiko be the camera woman and I took a couple pictures with pretty much every girl that had been there. Kaoru said he'd send me everything later."

Michiko nodded. "Well, after you show the others, just put everything on your computer and send me the pictures so I can send them to the guys at work."

"Alright – hey, wait! Why'd you tell the guys at work anyways?" Aki asked.

"I couldn't help it. I always talk about you at work and it slipped. I didn't think it was a secret."

"Well...it wasn't...but Jin and Arata and some other guy were at the train station today and they wouldn't let me go to to school until I promised to send them pictures!"

"Yeah, they told me," Michiko said, laughing.

"Auntie! Don't laugh! _Theywouldn't let me go to school_."

"Oh, Tomi-chan, you didn't think they'd actually keep you from school, right? They'd have let you go eventually with enough time so you wouldn't be late."

"I know, but still! It was irritating."

Michiko laughed again. "That's not the worst of your problems, though. I'm sending these to your parents and siblings. Just think of what _they'll _say!" Aki let out a groan. Her parents were going to be as crazy as Michiko was about the boys.

**I'll explain some things:**

**Suzu-chan: "Suzu-chan" is Nobuo's nickname for Aki when she's wearing her Ouran uniform. The bottom of the dress is shaped like a bell, and the name Suzu means bell, so he calls her Suzu whenever he sees her in the uniform. When she's in anything other than that he just calls her Aki.**

**Nagajuban: Nagajuban is a kimono-shaped robe. It's there to keep the kimono from getting dirty since kimonos are hard to clean.**

**Obi: The belt of the kimono.**

**Haori: A kimono-like jacket.**

**Juban: Jubans are like the undershirts of kimonos, worn under the Nagajuban.**

**Ore: "Ore" is used to refer to oneself. It's a male-only word, like boku (which means the same thing; Females are considered tomboyish if they use the male words). Remember, everyone in this story is really speaking in Japanese, not English, so when Haruhi's talking about herself she uses "ore" instead of "watashi" (which is a unisex word, but usually females use "watashi" and males use "boku").**

**Karihimo: A sash used to hold things in place while getting dressed in a kimono.**

**Datejime: A sash used to tie the nagajuban.**

**Coming-of-Age Day: A festival day for people who are turning twenty in that year (20 is the adult age in Japan, like 21 in America). Females typically wear furisodes (a type of kimono) during the festival. Aki was referring to this when she was thinking about having Yuzuha make her a kimono when she was twenty.**

**Sticky-pictures: Sticker-pictures. In Japan they have picture booths where you can take pictures, edit them later on (like draw or write things on them or add effects), and when they print out you can stick them on anything.**

**Also, my timeline is still screwed up. This chapter is supposed to be set in the first week back from the new year, but instead I think it's set about two or three weeks after. Sorry.**


	7. Chapter 6

"She did what?"

"Gave us 'improved characters'."

Aki frowned and adjusted her phone on her shoulder. The twins had called her a while ago and (after telling her what their mother said about her being adorable in the kimono) started telling her about what happened after she'd left. Apparently Renge had improved the hosts' characters to make them more appealing to the clients.

"What are they exactly?" Aki asked, putting her pencil down and setting her homework aside for the moment.

"Well, Honey-senpai is supposed to be the cute guy who's actually a 'beast'," Hikaru said. "Mori-senpai takes care of Honey by being with him all the time and is supposed to make his speeches more dignified? That's right, right, Kaoru?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's it," Kaoru said. "Haruhi's a poor–"

"_Super _poor," Hikaru corrected.

"Yeah, super poor. She's a super poor honor student who's being bullied. Tamaki's an idol who's appearance is always complimented but he's really lonely."

"And then we're supposed to be suffering because no one can tell us apart," Hikaru said.

"And we play basketball," Kaoru added.

Aki shook her head. It sounded a lot like the characters in Uki Doki Memorial. She'd have to play it again to be sure, though...

"How about Kyoya-senpai?" she asked.

"She wants him to be 'the same'," Hikaru said. "Or, you know, like that Ichigo guy." Aki smiled a bit.

"His name isn't 'Strawberry'."

"Ichirou, then," Kaoru said.

"Ichijo, guys. It's not that hard a name to remember. Anyway, what did Kyoya have to say about this?"

"He didn't say anything, he just went along with it. And you should have seen Tamaki. He was totally into the whole 'Lonely Prince' thing. He was posing and everything!"

_How dramatic_, Aki thought. "She didn't say anything about me, did she?"

"Nah. Maybe she'll say something about you tomorrow," Hikaru said.

"I hope she doesn't." She didn't even think there was anything that fit her.

"Tomi-chan!" Michiko called. "Dinner time!"

"Coming! Guys, I've gotta go. See you at school."

"See you, Puppy," the twins said. Aki rolled her eyes and hung up.

Aki sat down at her desk and yawned. She'd spent a better part of last night playing Uki Doki Memorial while her aunt watched. She went through it pretty fast since it was only a dating sim and nothing really strategic, and ended up going through each story line after finishing Ichijo's. By the time she was finished with the whole game it was around one o'clock in the morning. She only had a few hours to sleep.

"Already losing my buzz?" she mumbled to herself before taking a gulp of coffee.

"Hey, Puppy." She felt something poke her back. Looking back, she found that it was the eraser of a pencil.

"Yeah, Hikaru?" she said.

"You look tired. What were you doing last night?"

"Studying."

"For what? We don't have a test in anything today."

"I don't...I don't even remember." Aki shook her head and took another sip of coffee. It was cold by now and wasn't doing her any good.

"Well, don't fall asleep, alright?" he said, tousling her hair. She frowned and reached up to adjust her hat, then realized that she didn't have one on. She must've forgotten to put it on before she left. She hoped that was the case. Hikaru chuckled.

"Let's begin," Mr. Watanabe said, getting everyone's attention. Aki drank the last bit of coffee, hoping that it would keep her awake for a while.

Needless to say, the coffee did not keep her awake. She fell asleep during chemistry (the lecture on atomic structures did absolutely nothing the help her stay awake) and slept through pretty much the whole class. Thankfully she was in the very back of the science room so Mr. Watanabe didn't notice a thing. She was a little sad that she'd fallen asleep, but at least she was awake for her next class, even though she still felt sleepy.

At lunch time she was prepared to go to some room and take a nap, but Rei and Emiko dragged her to the cafeteria.

"It's not good to miss out on lunch," Emiko had said when Aki tried to protest. "Sure, you'll be rested, but you'll be starving!"

"Food gives you energy, too!" Rei said. "And, anyway, if you go to sleep you'll end up even more tired when you wake up! And cranky."

"Very cranky," Emiko said with a nod.

The two of them sat her down at one of the tables, then hurried off to get lunch. They came back with four plates, two with choice A (juicy steak, baked potato with cheese, and steamed vegetables), one with choice B (lamb with sauce, mashed potatoes with gravy, and baby carrots), and one that was full of sweets.

"Figured you'd like the steak," Rei said, placing one of the steak dishes in front of Aki. The other was for herself.

"This is also for you," Emiko said, putting the sweets dish in front of her. There was a slice of pie, a slice of cake, pudding, and a bunch of bite-sized cupcakes and candies.

"But, you know, if it's too much you can just, y'know, give it to me."

"Rei!"

"To Emiko, too."

"Rei..."

"Well I can't eat all of that, so take as much as you want," Aki said, picking up a piece of her already cut steak.

"Oh, and this is for you, too." Emiko set a cup of coffee next to Aki's plates.

"Thanks."

The girls ate their lunch. While they did, Rei started to talk about Renge.

"Weird girl, huh?" she said. "That Renge girl...Aki, did you see her hit Tamaki-senpai?"

"Yep."

"That was crazy! I don't think anyone has ever hit him! I even asked Kaede and she said that she'd never seen anyone hit Tamaki. Act rudely to him, yeah, but not hit him!"

Emiko shook her head. "She's an otaku, too. Figures." Aki raised her eyebrows a bit. She was pretty sure she heard a bitter tone in the girl's voice. Weird. Emiko wasn't the type to be mean or anything. Maybe she was just more tired than she realized. Although, part of her wasn't so surprised that Emiko would have that sort of tone. Not many people actually liked otakus.

"I'm sure not _all _otakus would hit someone," Rei said. "She was probably just scared. Wouldn't you hit someone if you were scared, Emi?"

"Hit someone? Emi-chan?" Aki let out a laugh. "She'd hurt herself."

"Would not!" Emiko protested. Rei laughed.

"You would. You can't even high-five my dad without going, 'Ouch! Mr. Noguchi, you hit too hard!'" Emiko blushed and stuffed a cupcake in Rei's face. "Mmm! Chocolate!"

Aki was taking a sip of her coffee when that happened and started to laugh but ended up choking on a bit of the drink. So there she was, laughing in between coughs and trying not to spill her drink. Rei pulled the cupcake away and laughed at Aki who started to laugh and cough even harder at seeing the icing on Rei's face. That just made Rei laugh even harder.

"These two..." Emiko shook her head and put a napkin on Rei's face. "Pipe down. You're getting a bunch of weird looks."

"Sorry...Emi-chan..." Rei said through a couple laughs that slowly became giggles. "It was just so funny."

"Who laughs at someone nearly choking, anyway?" Rei and Aki raised their hands. Emiko shook her head again and started wiping icing off of Rei's face. "Your face is a mess, Rei."

"It's your fault."

"Are you alright Aki-chan?"

"I'm fine," Aki said, wiping away a couple tears.

"Awake now, aren't you?" Rei asked. She nodded.

"But my throat is burning."

"It'll pass soon."

The three of them finished their lunch (and Aki and Rei ate most of the sweets and Aki got another cup of coffee) and put everything away. Aki felt more awake than ever, but she wasn't sure if that was a good thing. She felt a bit hyper, too. She couldn't stop bouncing in her seat during class and even if she did stop for a moment her finger would tap on the table or her leg would shake up and down. Hikaru kept teasing her about it. Eventually once school ended Kaoru started teasing her, too.

"Try to calm down for a moment, Puppy," Kaoru said, putting his hand on her head to keep her still while they headed to the music room.

"I don't think I should have had all of those sweets and coffee," Aki said. She was a little less hyper than before, but still had a bounce to her step.

"Try not to scare away all the customers," Hikaru said as they reached the club room.

"I'll be fine, don't worry."

The twins opened the doors, saying, "Ladies first." Aki giggled, though if she weren't under the effects of caffeine and sugar, she'd have probably just rolled her eyes and smiled. It wasn't really funny, anyway.

As soon as Aki stepped into the room she felt a different atmosphere. It wasn't bad or anything, it was just...off.

In the middle of the room was Renge, standing with her hands on her hips and rolls of paper in her hands. Her smiled grew a bit wider when the twins walked through the door. The other hosts were around her with rolls of paper in their hands, too. No, wait, scripts. That's what they were, or at least that's what they looked like.

"Hikaru! Kaoru!" Renge headed past Aki and went right up to the twins. She held out the scripts. "Here!"

"What's this?" Hikaru asked.

"A script," Aki answered. He rolled his eyes.

"That's obvious, but what for?"

"Well, it's got a title, doesn't it?"

"We're making a movie!" Renge said over Aki. "A movie with all of your new and improved characters."

"New and improved? But all you did was add a dark side or something," Aki said. She meant to keep that to a thought, but it slipped out. "Like, Honey's a bully, right? But that's it? Mori...well, other than having him talk more, you didn't change anything, I don't think. The twins only joined the basketball team. I mean, okay, maybe they don't have a problem with being confused for each other, but I think they do. I mean, _I _sure would if I had an identical twin twin. Haruhi's just bullied. Tamaki's probably not lonely or anything." Everyone was pretty much a copy of the game's characters. "As for Kyoya..." She gave a small giggle and hid her smile behind her hand, trying not to seem rude to her senior.

Renge turned on Aki with a big frown on her face. "And _who _exactly are _you_?"

She hadn't seen her yesterday? And they were sorta in the same class. Although, Renge was at the front of the class and Aki was in the back, and Renge only looked back to peek at the twins and Haruhi. "I'm Aki Fukuda in class 1-A."

"She's our Puppy," Hikaru and Kaoru added.

"They mean I'm the maid," Aki said, rolling her eyes. "I serve the drinks and snacks and I clean up after everyone."

"Well, Miss Aki, their characters have been improved," Renge said a bit slowly to get her point across. "I couldn't change _everything _about them. Anyway!" She turned to the twins. "You two need to study this! We're filming today!"

"But what about the club?" Kaoru asked.

"Activities have been canceled for today! Kyoya said so." The twins looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Do I have to study?" Aki asked.

"Well I didn't even know you until today, so there's no character for you."

"Can I have a character?" Not like she really wanted one, she was just curious about what she'd get.

"No. The script's already been made."

"But that –"

"Also, you aren't even important, you're just a maid, so you don't need a character."

Aki was suddenly very still while the twins snickered behind their hands. "Rude." But, she was right.

Renge bounced off towards Kyoya, going on about how excited she was. Aki shook her head.

"Well, I'm off!" she said, heading to the door.

"Where are you going?" Kaoru asked.

"Home. We don't have the club today, so there's no reason for me to stay, and I'm not going to sit around and watch you guys make a movie, _and _I'm not important anyway. Oh, but if she needs someone to play the girl that gets in the way of people's pairings, call me. I could play the part. Anyway, I'll see you guys later."

"Bye," the twins said, waving at her. She waved back and left the room.

"Happy filming," she said to Haruhi when they passed each other.

"What?"

"Show me the final product, okay!"

"Wait, what are you talking about? Where are you going? We have to be at the club!"

"I don't! Goodbye and good luck."

Michiko had a laughing fit when Aki came out of her room that evening.

"Your hair, Tomi-chan!" she laughed. Aki yawned and grumbled about how she didn't care about her hair. Michiko's laughing subdued and she got up to fix her niece's wild hair that was sticking out all over the place. "Well, I shouldn't be surprised that it's such a mess. You were tossing and turning in your bed. How was your nap, by the way?"

"Tiring," Aki said, rubbing some dried drool off of her cheek and grimacing. Michiko chuckled and smoothed out Aki's hair.

"There, all better...eh, sort of. Now c'mon, I made curry rice."

"You made it or you bought it?"

"I _made _it!" Michiko said, quite pleased with herself. "I think it turned out pretty good."

Aki nodded and they took their plates of curry rice and their drinks (calpis for Aki, melon soda for Michiko) to the table.

"Smells pretty good," Aki said. Michiko grinned.

"Yeah! Now it just better taste good."

"It better?"

"Yes, it better! Or else I will have made all of this for nothing and I'd have wasted food."

Aki nodded and the two of them started to eat. Aki took one bite and ate it rather slowly, her face forming a grimace. Michiko frowned over at her.

"It's not good?" Aki shook her head. "But...Well, I'll just eat it anyway." She put a bit of food in her mouth, hesitated, then glared at Aki who started to laugh. "You liar!"

"Sorry!" Aki laughed. Her aunt rolled her eyes and reached across the table to flick her forehead. "Ow...That's child abuse..." That got her another flick.

"Anyway...how was school?"

Aki shrugged. "Fine."

"Elaborate."

"It was fine."

Michiko rolled her eyes. "Details, give me details."

"Okay, okay. Well, I was tired for most of the day, then at lunch I choked on my coffee –"

"What?!"

"I'm fine now, aren't I? Anyway, I choked on my coffee _from laughing _and had a bunch of sweets, then I got hyper and was pretty hyper until sometime after I got on the train to come back home. Oh, and Hikaru and Kaoru were teasing me after lunch."

"I see. Oh, by the way, how come you were home so early? I always get back before you."

"Always?"

"Well, when I don't have to work late. Anyways, what happened?"

"Well, you remember when I told you about Renge, right?" Michiko nodded. "And how she plays Uki Doki?" Another nod. "And how she gave the hosts different characters?"

"Tomi-chan, I got it."

"Okay, okay. Well, apparently today she's having them make a movie with their 'new-and- improved' characters, so the club activities were canceled just for that. I'm pretty surprised Kyoya-senpai even agree to that, though he did say that she's the daughter of a business partner of the Ootori's, so I guess that's why he did."

Michiko nodded. "But you didn't stay. Don't you have a character?"

"Nope. I even asked Renge and she said that I didn't need one because I was just a maid, so therefore I wasn't important."

"That's rude!"

Aki shrugged. "That's what I said, but, eh. She's right, I'm not important. The hosts are important because they're _the _hosts, the ones the girls go to the club for. I'm just the girl in the background who refills their teacups and sets out snacks. They sure don't go there for _me_."

"But...even if you aren't important to the club, that still wasn't nice."

"It was honest. And I'm glad she said that instead of making up some silly excuse. Although she did say that the script was already made, but that's a pretty good reason to not insert a new character, anyway."

"Well, alright, that is a good reason. You sure you couldn't have been a character, though? I'd have liked to see you in a movie."

"Well, I did joke with Hikaru and Kaoru about being that girl that gets between everyone's pairings, but that's it. I didn't even want to stay, anyway."

"Ah, well. Hey, get a copy for me, alright? I wanna see what it's like."

"So do I."

Aki plopped down at her desk and turned to face Hikaru. He looked up from his notebook and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Yes, Puppy?"

"How'd it go?"

"It's was okay. Kinda fun, but nothing really special."

"Was it sappy?" He nodded.

"Very. You should have seen Tamaki."

"You should have been there, Puppy," Kaoru said, having appeared at Hikaru's desk. He leaned against it and smiled at her. "It got interesting towards the end."

"How so?" Aki asked.

"Well, at some point Renge brought over two guys from class D and they got into an argument."

"Then they pushed Renge and Haruhi saved her from hitting some of the set," Hikaru continued. "Right, Haruhi?" He reached over to his left and nudged Haruhi.

She looked up from her textbook and gave them a confused look. "Right what?"

"You saved Renge."

"Oh. Well, I wouldn't say I saved her. That seems...I dunno, a little exaggerated."

"Anyway, that's what happened," Kaoru said. "Then Tamaki saw and I think Haruhi was crying?" He looked over at her and she nodded. "Yeah. Haruhi was crying."

"You were really crying?" Aki asked, leaning towards Haruhi. "Did it hurt real bad?"

"No, no, my contact lenses just slipped," she said.

"Oh."

"Back to what happened with Tamaki." Hikaru glanced around the room, then motioned Aki closer. They leaned their heads forward and Kaoru bent down. "Tamaki thought the D-class guys had hurt Haruhi so he went up and punched one of them!" Hikaru said in a hushed voice.

"Really?!" Aki exclaimed. The twins shushed her.

"Really what?" Rei called from her seat. Most of their classmates were looking at her.

"It's nothing! Don't worry," Kaoru said before turning his attention back on Aki and lowering his voice. "We're not supposed to let anyone know about any violent act any of us did."

"How come? It's not that bad. Some girls like that," Aki said, her voice as quiet as his.

"Kyoya said so."

"Oh. Okay, then. But, I really can't believe that Tamaki-senpai would punch anyone! He's...Tamaki. I mean, I don't know much about him, but he doesn't seem like a violent guy."

"He isn't usually," Hikaru said.

"So, what happened afterward?"

"Kyoya broke the camera lens."

"What?"

Kaoru nodded. "Yeah, he just went and broke it 'cause they'd filmed the violent part and he didn't want them showing it. So no more film."

"Oh." Well, looked like Michiko wasn't getting her movie.

"But at least Renge realized that Kyoya wasn't like Ichigo –"

"Ichijo."

"Right, right. So, she realized that Kyoya wasn't Ichijo and we weren't any of those other characters."

"And that was it?"

"That was it," the twins said.

"Don't you regret not being there?" Hikaru asked. Aki smiled and shook her head.

"Nah. I had a nice nap when I got home. I'd have probably fallen asleep while you guys were doing your thing, anyway."

Hikaru and Kaoru shook their heads. Kaoru patted her head before going back to his seat and starting up a conversation with Haruhi.

"We do have the club today, so you have to stay this time," Hikaru said as she was turning around.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." She looked back and smiled at him. "What are you telling me for? Did you miss me yesterday?"

Hikaru rolled his eyes and smiled. "Not one bit. It was nice, actually, nice and calm, and we didn't have to look after a hyper pup." Aki stuck her tongue out at him and turned to face the front.

"Come and help us out, Puppy," Hikaru and Kaoru called. They were trying to move a couch, but it was a bit heavy for them.

"I'm kind of doing something already," Aki said. She was hurriedly setting the tables, trying to finish her last two before the girls came in (which was in a couple minutes) and not make a mess. She could feel Kyoya staring at her while she set everything.

_He's probably waiting for me to drop something, _she thought, glancing up at him. Yep. He was looking at her. _Note to self: Don't stay in the bathroom texting anyone before the club starts ever again._

"C'mon!" the twins said. Aki huffed and set her tray down, then went to the side Kaoru was on.

"Wait, I can't handle one side by myself," Hikaru said. He grabbed Haruhi and brought her over. "Help me out, Haruhi."

"C'mon, Haruhi," Kaoru said. Haruhi sighed.

"Alright, alright," she said, grabbing a corner of her side. The others followed suit and they were able to lift the couch. They moved it to the front of the room with some difficulty and Aki nearly dropped it when it was in the right place.

"Slowly..." Kaoru muttered. "Don't drop it or else we'll all be in trouble."

"I'm not gonna drop it," Aki said, though her hands were telling her to do just that.

They all lowered the couch onto the ground and fell onto the armrests. Tamaki immediately sat on the center cushion.

"Tamaki-senpai..." Haruhi said, panting. "Can't we stick to chairs?...Those are easier to move."

"I can't always sit in a chair. It would get boring," Tamaki said.

"Why don't you move the couch next time...then?" Aki muttered. She got up and went back to grab her platter and finish setting tables, fanning herself the whole time. Thankfully she was able to finish setting the tables before the club started, though she did spill some tea.

The hosts and Aki quickly got into place. The doors opened and the usual "Welcome" was said. There was squealing, but Aki didn't think much of it until she heard the girls say, "We bought the video!"

Aki stepped forward. What video? Not the one they'd done yesterday, right? Kyoya had destroyed the camera, right?

"The scene in the rain was the best!"

"I was blown away by Hikaru-kun and Kaoru-kun's deep relationship!"

"I want to see Honey-kun's evil side!"

No, that sounded like what they probably did yesterday.

Aki headed over to Haruhi and nudged her. "Are they talking about what you guys did yesterday?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"But didn't Kyoya break the camera?"

"Yes. Maybe he got the footage first?"

"Kyoya..." Tamaki said. He didn't look like he was in the best mood.

"Do you think I'm such an idiot as to break the camera without taking the data first? The sales are going just fine. Of course, the violent scenes have been edited." Kyoya closed his notebook and turned to Tamaki with a small smile on his face. "Aren't you happy to have more money for the club?"

_He just looks for any opportunity to make money, huh? _Aki wondered. This and the picture books (Rei had shown her one that she'd gotten). What else would he use?

There was a tap on her shoulder. She turned and saw Rei and Emiko.

"Did you see it, Aki-chan?" Emiko asked.

"The video? No."

"Aw, really? It was good!" Rei said. "I can lend you my copy!"

"You'd really?" Rei nodded. "Well, okay." So Michiko would get it after all.

"Okay! I'll bring it tomorrow, but don't keep it for too long, alright? Kaede hasn't seen it yet."

"You got it."

As soon as she stopped talking, she noticed Renge walk into the room and go up to Haruhi.

"I finally realized..." she started. "The kindness to protect me with all your might...The depth of your love admonishing me occasionally." She then took Haruhi's hands in her own, smiling at her with an infatuated look in her eyes. "This is what you meant by fall in love with the person little by little through looking at their personality, isn't it? Haruhi-kun."

That set Tamaki off. Aki shook her head a bit and went back to her spot, waiting for them to actually start hosting so she could do her job.


	8. Chapter 7

"Everyone! Meeting time!" Tamaki called. Aki sat down in front of him, wondering what this was about. The others sat down, though the twins sure took their time.

"What's this about?" Aki asked.

"Next week, on Valentine's day, we'll be hosting a dance!" Tamaki said, grinning.

"Another one?" Haruhi asked.

"Of course," Kyoya answered. "Valentine's Day is a very popular day to have a dance."

"It wasn't even our idea," Hikaru said.

"The school always has a Valentine's dance," Kaoru added.

"We'll just be the ones hosting and making sure everyone has a good time," Kyoya said.

"We also need to be the ones to decorate and set everything up," Honey added.

"What, you guys don't have a bunch of people to do that for you?" Aki asked, really just joking. Honey shook his head.

"So, who's going to be in change of decorations?" Tamaki asked.

"We will," the twins said.

"And the music?"

"We can get some suggestions from the classes," Kyoya said.

"Who's going to DJ?" Aki asked.

"I know someone who can!" Honey said. "He's in Tama-chan and Kyo-chan's class, actually. Um...Takashi, what's his name? Hisao Higa's little brother."

"Keiji."

"Oh, I know him!" Tamaki exclaimed. "He's really quiet, but really adorable!"

"And very shy," Kyoya said. "And not one for dances or crowds. I know, I've been around him before."

"But you can convince him to play songs, right?" Tamaki asked.

"I can try."

"If he doesn't want to, I have a friend who I don't think would mind," Aki said. "He's DJed for a bunch of school dances before, so this wouldn't be a problem."

"We'll keep him in mind," Kyoya said.

"What else?" Kaoru asked Tamaki.

"Mmm...well..."

"Do we need to bring food?" Aki asked. Tamaki chuckled and shook his head.

"No, of course not. We already have the chefs here making food for the dance...Well, we are going to be wearing suits. And a dress for Aki. But...maybe we can get Haruhi into a dress again?"

"Again?"

"A story for another time," Kyoya said. "Anyway, there's no reason for Haruhi to be in a dress, so we won't put her in one." Tamaki frowned.

"Are we wearing anything during the club?" Haruhi asked.

"Yes. Suits and a dress for Aki, like with the dance, only the suits and dress will be different for the club and the dance."

"Can I choose my dress?" Aki asked.

"Nope. We've already got that covered," Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"What, is your Mom making it again?" They nodded. "Doesn't she have something else to do? I mean, isn't there some Valentine's Day fashion show coming up? Isn't your mom in that?"

"Well, yeah, but she's going to make a bunch of dresses anyway," Hikaru said. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind making one – well, two – for you. She could use them in the show."

"What about the suits?"

"We can just rent them," Kaoru said. "Mom doesn't need to work on a bunch of suits."

"Tama-chan, can we have heart-shaped cake?" Honey asked.

"Sure!"

"How about cookies, too?" Aki asked. "Heart shaped cookies? And cupcakes?" Tamaki smiled and nodded.

"We can have those, too."

Kyoya tapped Aki's shoulder. "You do know how to dance, don't you?"

"With a partner? Sort of, I guess. I'm not an expert but I think I'm decent enough." Not really. She didn't usually dance with anyone. The last time was during a school dance and it was with Nobuo, but that was a long time ago, and they'd been stepping on each others feet. She knew the steps, though, she just wasn't good at it.

"Hm." Kyoya pushed his glasses up and turned to his notebook. Aki tried checking out what he was writing, but he managed to hold it away from her. "Well, I think that's all for today. I can handle anything else. And remember, we'll be practicing dancing next week."

"Why?" Haruhi asked.

"Because of you," Hikaru said, poking her cheek. "It's really just practice for you."

"When do we have to practice?" Aki asked, getting up.

"During lunch and after the club," Kyoya said.

"What? I can do lunch, but not after the club. I've got to get home."

"We'll be ending the club early next week," Tamaki said, smiling and patting her head. "Don't worry, Aki-chan. You'll get home on time."

"I'd better. See you later, Senpai."

"Bye, Aki-chan!"

She grabbed her bag and headed out of the room.

"Ow."

"Sorry."

"Ouch! Aki."

"I'm sorry!"

"Aki..."

"Look, I'm sorry!" Aki gritted her teeth and stepped away from Kaoru. That was probably the millionth time she'd stepped on his foot.

She huffed and ran her hand through her hair. She didn't think that dancing would be so hard, especially dancing as slow as they were.

"I'm not cut out for dancing," she said. "I'm terrible."

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "You're being ridiculous. This is only your first time in a while, right? Not everyone gets it on their first try."

"But the problem is that I know how it's supposed to go. I've seen people do it. And it's such a slow dance! So why's it difficult?"

"Hey, you two." Hikaru and Haruhi entered the club room with their lunches. Aki turned to her own and got a bit of meat onto her chopsticks, popping it into her mouth.

"Any luck?" Haruhi asked.

"No," Aki grumbled. "I keep stepping on Kaoru's feet."

"He's just not that good of a dancer," Hikaru said, putting down his food. Kaoru stuck his tongue out at his brother. "C'mon, try it with me."

"I don't think so..."

"You don't have a choice." Hikaru grabbed her hand and put his free hand on her back and under her shoulder. She sighed and put hers on his shoulder.

They started to dance, Aki counting _one, two, three _over and over in her head. In no time she'd screwed up and stepped on Hikaru's foot.

"Ouch!" He frowned, but kept on going. "Ow, ow!"

"Sorry, I'm sorry! Ow!" There were a couple more winces as they tried to continue going but eventually went from dancing to just stepping on each others feet and Hikaru squeezing Aki's hand too hard.

"This is a train wreck," Kaoru muttered to Haruhi.

"Shit – Hikaru, stop, let's just st–" She was cut of when they both tripped and went tumbling down.

Hikaru landed on his rear while Aki had fallen to her knees and hit her head on his shoulder. Both of them gripped each others hand.

"Damn it," Hikaru muttered, letting go of her hand. "Ugh, my ass."

"At least you made it out with a bruised ass and feet," Aki said, kicking his foot. "I've got bruised knees and probably a bruised head because of your sharp shoulder. And my hand..."

"Stop laughing, Kaoru," Hikaru snapped at his snickering brother.

"You're the better dancer, huh? That never happened when I was dancing with her," Kaoru said.

"C'mon, get up," Aki said, pushing herself to her feet. She took Hikaru's hand (the one that she hadn't tried to squeeze to death) and helped him up.

Then Kyoya and Tamaki walked through the door. Tamaki put down his lunch and immediately went over to Haruhi. Aki walked over to Kyoya, rubbing her head.

"I don't think I can do it, Senpai," she said.

"Do what?"

"Dance. I keep stepping on their feet, and just now I tripped and fell!"

"Well you aren't going to be perfect the first time. Keep trying. You aren't getting out of the dance no matter how hard you try."

_Damn it_, she thought. She really wanted to get out of it. Not because she didn't like dances, but she'd made plans with Kasumi on Valentine's Day. She'd rather be at home with Kasumi than at the dance.

"Do you want to be my partner? I think I scared away my last two."

Kyoya smiled a bit. "I'd rather not have my feet crushed. But I'm sure Tamaki would be glad to be your partner." He rose his voice at the second sentence, catching Tamaki's attention. He hurried over, stopping at Aki's side.

"I'd be glad to be Aki's partner!" he said.

"You sure about that?" Aki asked. Tamaki ignored her (or maybe he didn't hear her) and took her hand in his.

"Let's go, Aki-chan!" he said, pulling her to the middle of the room.

"Hey, Tamaki-senpai, I should warn you that I step on feet a lot. I mean, _a lot_. Ask Hikaru and Kaoru."

"I don't mind. If it'll help you learn how to dance, then it's alright." He stopped and turned her to face him. Aki sighed and put her hand on his shoulder while he put his under her shoulder.

They started dancing, Aki counting in her head again. In no time she stumbled over one of Tamaki's feet and stepped on the other. He only let out a small wince. After a couple more times he stopped and looked down.

"Maybe it would help you if you could see your feet," he said, frowning. "But you can really see them past your dress, huh?"

Aki looked down. "No." The skirt of the dress was too poofy for her to see her own feet. She was just stepping around blindly. "This would be better if I had pants."

"Then bring pants tomorrow, okay? Maybe it'll be easier."

"I hope so...Why do I even have to come to the dance? The host club's hosting it, right? I'm just a maid, not important. What, does Kyoya want me to clean up after everyone?"

Tamaki chuckled and patted her head. "No, no. You're part of the host club!"

"I'm the maid."

"You're still part of the club."

"An unimportant part."

"Oh, what, are you still stuck on what Renge said?" Hikaru called.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Aki said. They stuck their tongues out at each other. "And, no, I'm not. That's just how I feel about it, and I know I'm right."

"You're important!" Tamaki said. "You clean things up so the club room is presentable and you set things on the table so our clients don't go hungry or thirsty!" She gave him a skeptical look.

"Senpai, anyone can do that."

"Well...you're a girl. Another girl, so Haruhi isn't alone."

"She's around girls all the time."

"But you're the only girl who knows her secret."

"What does it have to do with me being important to the club?"

"You're keeping the secret. That's important."

Aki shook her head. "How about you go dance with Haruhi? I'm done for today."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay...but tomorrow we'll work hard, okay? Me and you!"

"If you say so." Tamaki grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back. "Now go on and dance with Haruhi before someone else gets to her." He quickly left.

Aki sat down on a nearby chair and watched the twins and Tamaki argue over who got to dance with Haruhi first. Haruhi sat off to the side, finishing her lunch. Aki decided to start eating her lunch. She only had so much time to finish it all.

Honey and Mori entered the room a while later, apologizing for being late. Apparently they'd forgotten and didn't remember about practice until they'd finished their lunch. By this time Tamaki was sulking because Hikaru was dancing with Haruhi and muttering about how he stole his daughter.

"Hiya, Aki-chan!" Honey said, bouncing up to Aki with Mori right behind him.

"Hi," Aki said.

"Aren't you going to practice?"

"No. I'm done until tomorrow."

"What? But what about after the club?"

"I'm going to leave."

"Will Kyoya let you?" Aki shrugged.

"I dunno. I'll just skip out while he isn't paying attention."

And that was what she did. After school ended she went and did her job. Once the club was over, she set everything back in the snack room, grabbed her bag, and hurried out of the room. She heard the twins calling after her, saying something about Kyoya, but she kept going.

Thankfully she got to the train station without anyone grabbing her and dragging her back. She hopped onto the train and headed home.

When she got there she stopped in her tracks. In front of her were Jin and Michiko, looking at each other. Well, they were looking at Aki now, but they had been looking at each other before she walked in.

"Am I interrupting something?" Aki asked slowly, closing the door and setting her bag down.

"No, no. We were just talking, but it wasn't super important," Jin said, smiling at her.

"What are you doing here so early?" Michiko asked.

"The club ended early," Aki replied.

"Oh, that host club thing?" Jin said. "You know, one time Michiko –" At that moment Michiko slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Auntie what?"

"Nothing, Tomi-chan, nothing," Michiko said. "Anyway, I thought you had to practice your dancing."

"What? Tomi-chan has to dance?" Jin said.

"It's a school dance and I have to go because my club it hosting it," Aki said.

"It's slow dancing, right?" She nodded. "So...you're getting close to boys, then?" Jin asked, smiling and wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up, Jin," Aki and Michiko said. He chuckled and held his hands up.

"Anyway, yes, I do have practice, but I didn't want to go today. I'm no good. During lunch I kept stepping on feet and tripping. I can't even see my feet past this dress."

"Do you need help dancing? I can help you out," Jin said. "I learned a couple slow dances when I was younger, and I'm pretty good at them."

"That's al–"

"I think you should help her," Michiko said. "She needs to get this down by Friday. It is Friday, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay! You guys can start right now!"

"Okay...I need to change first, though."

"Nonsense!" Jin said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the living room. "You don't need to see your feet to learn."

"You don't?"

"Nah."

"But how would you know? You're a guy, so you always wear pants. You always see your feet."

"Well..."

"Have you ever worn a dress?"

"Have you?" Michiko asked.

"No!" Jin said quickly. "No way! But, I mean, I'm sure you can learn even if you can't see your feet. You're wearing a dress to the dance, aren't you?" Aki nodded. "You probably won't be able to see your feet even then."

_I hope that's not the case_, she thought.

"C'mon, just follow me first. Michi, you come on and join."

"Oh, no, this isn't for me."

"Yeah, c'mon and join, Auntie," Aki said, pushing her aunt next to Jin who wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Michiko sighed.

Aki stood opposite of Jin. He started off, moving forward with Michiko. Aki stepped back, then continued to mirror his movements. It felt nice to not have to worry about stepping on anyone's foot. Jin would tell her when she was stepping too forward or too much to the side. Sometimes when he'd step on Michiko's foot or she'd step on his foot, Aki would say, "You're stepping too much/too little to the side." The adults would stick their tongues out at her and she would stick hers right back out.

Eventually Michiko was done and went to sit on one of the couches. Jin decided to step up and actually dance with Aki. He took her hand in his and put his other under her shoulder blade.

"Michiko?" Jin said, looking over at Michiko. "Music, please!"

Michiko started to hum the Blue Danube. Jin stepped forward and Aki stepped back. Then they stepped to the side, then Jin stepped backward and Aki stepped forward.

"Too forward," Jin said when she stepped on his foot.

"Sorry."

They stepped to the side, then back, then to the side, then forward. After the first successful box, Aki started to look down at her feet. However, she was more focused on trying to see her feet than she was on dancing and didn't step far enough when Jin moved to the side.

"Tomi-chan."

"Huh?" She looked up, then noticed how she was facing his shoulder instead of his chest. "Oh, sorry."

There were a couple more mistakes until they got two successful boxes. Then Jin started turning when they went to the side. That's when Aki started stepping on his feet more and even tripping a couple times.

"Alright, we'll go slower, then." Jin looked at Michiko who started up Blue Danube again, this time slower than before.

Jin and Aki tried turning again. She was able to do it when they were dancing slower, but still had some trouble when they sped up.

"This isn't even full speed, you know," Jin said after stopping her. She sighed and shook her head.

"Thanks for helping me out anyway," she said. He smiled and nodded.

"No problem! Anything for a friend, especially a little cutie like you!" he said, patting her head, She swatted his hand away.

Jin looked over at Michiko who'd fallen asleep at some point and chuckled. "I guess she just got bored, huh? Here, play along." He walked over and gently shook her. "Hey, Michiko. Michiko."

A few shakes and Michiko cracked open her eyes. Jin smiled at her.

"Good morning, Michi," he said.

"Good morning, Auntie," Aki said. Michiko frowned and sat up.

"Good...morning?" she asked, rubbing her eyes. "It's morning? Why are you here, Jin?"

"Because you're late for work," Jin muttered. "Big Boss isn't happy, you know." Aki shook her head.

"What? I'm late?" Her eyes widened and she jumped up. "I'm late!"

Aki turned away to hide her smile. She hurried off into the kitchen to start making dinner. She could hear Michiko freaking out about her clothes and how she hadn't taken a shower yet while running around the house.

"Noodles would probably be good," Aki murmured, looking through the pantry.

"Michiko," Jin was trying to say over the frantic woman. "Michiko...Michiko!"

"What?" Michiko said, finally stopping. There was a long pause, then she blew up. "YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE! MAKING ME BELIEVE I WAS LATE! I NEARLY HAD A HEART ATTACK! FUCKING HELL, JIN-HO!"

Aki briefly poked her head into the living room and saw Michiko hitting Jin while he laughed and protected himself.

"Hey, hey, calm down Michi," Jin chuckled. "You aren't even hitting that hard."

"Do you want me to hit harder? Because I can," Michiko said.

"Haaaah, no thanks."

There was another pause, then Aki felt two hands gripping her shoulders. She jumped and looked back at Michiko who was giving her a cold glare.

"Hitomi," she said darkly, digging her nails into Aki's shoulders. "You went along with it...Making your poor aunt think she was late..."

"Jin! Jin, help me!"

"You're doing better than yesterday," Tamaki said after finishing a successful box waltz. Without spinning, of course. "What'd you do after you left?"

"I had a friend help me out," Aki said.

"So this means that if I try again, you won't step on my feet?" Hikaru asked, watching Kaoru dance with Haruhi who was stepping on his feet a few times.

"As long as we're not spinning, then yes."

"A few more times," Tamaki said. They did a couple more boxes before Tamaki decided to start spinning. Without telling her. So she tripped.

"Damnit, Senpai," she said, hugging Tamaki's arm. "Tell me before you start spinning."

"Sorry, sorry." She let go and they got back into their original position.

"So we're spinning?" He nodded. "Okay. Go slow, alright?"

He nodded again and they started the dance again. Aki stumbled a couple times over Tamaki's feet and he over hers before wanting to stop, but Tamaki wouldn't let her.

"You made it a couple times," he said. True, she had done a few successful turns, but she just wanted to stop.

"C'mon, Tamaki-senpai. I gotta eat," she said, gesturing to her plate of uneaten food.

"One more time," Tamaki said. "Please?"

Aki shook her head and sighed. "Alright, alright, one more time. But slowly, okay? Just go slow."

Tamaki nodded and they danced one more time, slow enough for her to do successful turns. After it was over she let go and went to sit down next to her food. Tamaki went over to Kyoya and started talking to him.

"I hope I'm decent by Friday," Aki murmured to herself, poking at her lunch. "It can't be that hard to learn a dance like this..."

"Yeah, there's probably something wrong with you," Kaoru said. Apparently Hikaru was dancing with Haruhi now.

"Shut up."

Hopefully with practice every day and Jin helping her (he'd promised to come back and help her out every day. He'd even teach her more than just a box waltz) she'd be alright for the dance. If not then...well, something really would be wrong with her.


	9. Chapter 8

Today was Valentine's Day.

Yes, it was Valentine's Day. Aki didn't care much about it at first. It was just a holiday where couples really got together and would have romantic dinners and where schoolgirls would give boys chocolates and single people would mope about (well, maybe not all, but she knew a few people who would, like Michiko). Nothing really special.

It didn't bother her until she'd gotten to the classroom.

She could hear the girls as she made her way down the corridor. They were all very excited. When she got into the classroom she saw them all crowded around Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi's desks. She couldn't even see the three of them. Glancing around the room, she noticed some of the boys looking back at the girls with frown. Hardly any of them had a bit of chocolate on their desks. Mr. Watanabe sat at his desk, glancing at the girls from time to time. He looked exasperated and kind of depressed. Maybe he's single.

Aki made her way to her desk, having to move girls out of the way to get there and being careful to not drop the small plastic bag in her hand. She wasn't sure, but she didn't think they were all from her class.

_Maybe I should switch seats with someone, _she thought when she finally sat down. That way it would be easier for her to get to her desk when the girls decided to swarm the hosts.

The bell rang then and Aki let out a sigh of relief, as did every male in the room.

Mr. Watanabe got up and put on a small smile. "Alright, girls, time to start class!" he called over them. They left to go to their own desks, and a few rushed out of the classroom.

Once the area was cleared, Aki looked back at the three. They all had small piles of chocolates on their desks. The twins had sort of smug looks on their faces while Haruhi looked a little tired. Being a host must be hard in a way.

"Is it always this crazy?" Aki asked.

"I guess so. It was like this last year, too," Hikaru said.

She shook her head, then reached into the plastic bag and pulled out three small boxes. She gave one to Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi.

"There you go," she said. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day," the three of them said.

"Now you all better get me something on White Day, you go it?" They nodded.

"Miss Fukuda, please turn around," Mr. Watanabe said.

"Sorry, sir," she said, turning to face the front of the class.

Throughout the rest of class (and the ones after that) the girls were in a very excited mood. Aki knew exactly why: Today was the day of the dance. And, well, it was theme day and Valentine's Day, but the was pretty sure they were mostly excited because of the dance.

"I can't wait until it's time for the dance!" Rei said during one of the breaks. Aki had moved over to sit in an empty desk in front of Rei's. The owner of the desk was currently talking to Haruhi, probably going on about the dance or how she was excited for the theme day.

"I can," Aki said.

"You don't like dances?" Emiko asked.

"Eh, I like them, but I had plans with Kasumi for today, so we have to push them back." Kasumi wasn't too happy about that, but she decided to go to Tomoko High's dance so she wouldn't be waiting around for Aki. Hopefully the dances would end around the same time, or at least Ouran's dance would end earlier than Tomoko's.

"Oh, the girl your always talk about," Rei said. "By the way, when can we meet her? Or when can we go to your house? We've never been to your house before."

"Rei," Emiko said.

"It's fine," Aki said. "You can come over whenever, I guess, just tell me first. But, you know, it can't be today. Or this weekend, actually. This whole weekend is dedicated to Kasumi."

Emiko nodded. "Well, we'll wait until some other weekend, then."

"Back onto the topic of the dance! Oh, I can't wait to dance with the hosts," Rei said, swooning. "To dance with Kyoya-senpai..."

"So he's your favorite?" Aki asked. Rei smiled and shook her head.

"No, I don't have a favorite. I couldn't have a favorite! To be tied down to one man...I couldn't do it..."

Emiko shook her head. "That kind of thinking worries me, Rei." Rei laughed.

"Don't worry, Emiko!" she said, wrapping her arm around Emiko's shoulders. "I'm a loyal, faithful person."

"I hope so."

"Anyway, it's not only going to be a good night for me. Emi-chan will get to dance with her crush!"

"What? Emi-chan has a crush!" Aki said, giving a dramatic gasp. Emiko's cheeks turned pink.

"Rei, I told you not to tell anyone," she hissed.

"But Aki-chan isn't just _anyone_."

"How come you never told me, huh?" Aki asked, leaning closer to Emiko. "I thought we were friends, Emi-chan."

"We are!"

"So how come you didn't tell me? That hurts, you know."

"No, Aki-chan, I didn't mean–"

"It's alright, it's alright," Aki said, holding a hand up. "There are things I haven't told you guys either. So, what's his name?"

"It's...um...it's..."

Then the bell rang. Aki and Rei groaned. Mr. Watanabe got up and asked everyone to go back to their desks.

The rest of the school day went smoothly. The air of excitement kept increasing the close they got the end of school, and Aki was afraid the girls would explode into cheers when the final bell rang and swarm the hosts again. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

"Time to go," Hikaru and Kaoru said. They grabbed Haruhi and Aki and hurried to the club room. As soon as they got there the girls were pushed into their dressing room and told to hurry up.

They turned towards the two mannequins. The one with "Haruhi" written across its forehead had a light pink suit on it. The button-up shirt was white and had a pink vest on it. The pants were light pink as well as the pink blazer draped over the mannequin's shoulder. A hot pink bow tie hung around the neck. Black dress shoes were next to it.

The other mannequin had "Aki" written on it, and it did not have a suit on it. Instead there was a short dress. The dress was strapless with a sweetheart neckline (thank goodness she'd shaved). The top was all red and was separated from the bottom by a big pink ribbon around the waist. The bottom of the dress was a mass of layers of white fabric so it puffed out, sort of like a petttiskirt. Red fabric made the top layer of the skirt and it deteriorated into small red hearts. A couple hearts were dotted on the white fabric, too. A red headband with a rose on the upper-left corner was on top of the mannequin's head and white flats were next to the mannequin.

"This is pretty," Aki said, stepping up to the mannequin. "Don't you think, Haruhi?"

Haruhi nodded. "To be expected from Mrs. Hitachiin, right?"

"I guess so."

"C'mon, let's get this stuff on. There are curtains in the back."

Aki nodded and they grabbed their clothes. They got to the curtains, closed them, and started to change. Aki slipped out of her uniform and pulled on the dress. It stopped halfway down her thighs and she was glad that she was only wearing it inside. The back stayed just below her shoulder blades which she was glad for, but it felt weird not having anything covering her shoulders. She'd have to get used to it.

She slipped on the flats and put on the headband before leaving the curtained area. Haruhi was already waiting with her suit on.

"How do I look?" Aki asked, holding out her arms and turning around. The skirt bounced a bit when she moved.

"Pretty cute," Haruhi said.

"Well, thank you. You look pretty dashing yourself." They both chuckled, then stepped out the door. Well, Haruhi did. Aki tried, but as soon as she set foot out the door she was pushed back inside.

"Hair and makeup time!" the twins said. Aki stumbled back and saw Hikaru plug up a curling iron while Kaoru pulled over a chair and opened a bag of make-up.

"Sit," he said, pointing to the chair. She did so.

"Don't make me look crazy," she said. "Like with super red lipstick or eyeshadow or whatever."

"Don't worry," Kaoru said. "Now close your eyes." As soon as she did he went to work. He put black eyeliner around her eyes as well as little hearts near the corners. He also put on light red blush and light pink lipstick. It wasn't too noticeable, but it looked pretty good anyway. Hikaru took the curling iron and curled the ends of her hair, then made it so a couple locks were in front of her shoulders and the rest was against her back.

"Finished," they said, holding up a mirror. Aki raised her eyebrows and nodded.

"Pretty good!" she said, smiling at them. "Better than anything I could ever do, that's for sure." They smiled back and started to put things away.

"Hey, aren't you going to compliment us?" Hikaru asked while they walked out of the dressing room. She turned to face them. They were both dressed just like Haruhi and had roses in the pockets of their blazers.

"You both look very handsome," she said.

"Thank you," they said. "And you look adorable, Puppy."

"Stop calling me Puppy."

"Puppy."

"Stop."

"_Puppy_."

"You know what–"

At that moment she was picked up and twirled around. She could hear the twins say, "No, we don't know what."

"Aki-chan! You look so cute!" Tamaki squealed.

"Senpai, please put me down."

He put her down after one more second of hugging and grinned at her. "The dress looks really good on you!"

"Thanks. You look pretty good, Senpai. The suit...suits you." He was dressed the same as the others, but it really did look good on him. Looking behind him, she found that Kyoya, Honey, and Mori were dressed the same way. Even Usa-chan was wearing a suit. The suits really did look good on all of them, though.

Tamaki grinned. "Thank you!"

They all walked over to the others and Aki was complimented by Honey. Then Kyoya handed her a plate of snacks, but it wasn't anything grand. Today they would just be serving heart-shaped cookies along with rose tea.

"So..." Aki pursed her lips and looked at them all. They still had some time left until the club opened, so why not start up a conversation with them? "Do you guys have any valentines?" To her surprise, they all shook their heads. "What? Are you serious? _None _of you?" Not even Tamaki?! She could see Haruhi not having one, but she though the rest of the club would have one.

"We don't have time to get a valentine," Hikaru said.

"We're always focused on the club," Kaoru said.

"I don't see a benefit of having one," Kyoya admitted. Aki frowned and shook her head.

"But isn't there some girl that you like enough to consider having as a Valentine?"

"I would love to have every girl in the school as my valentine!" Tamaki said.

"That's not fair to the other boys, Senpai..."

Suddenly the twins appeared next to Haruhi and wrapped their arms around her shoulders.

"You know what, Kaoru? I think maybe we should make Haruhi our valentine," Hikaru said.

Haruhi frowned. "Huh?"

"I'm sure the boss wouldn't mind," Kaoru said. Then they kissed her cheeks.

That set Tamaki off. He started yelling at the twins and chasing them around the room. They just laughed and ran off, taking Haruhi with them. Aki shook her head.

"Aki-chan, Aki-chan!" Honey tugged at the end of her skirt, grabbing her attention. "Do you have a valentine?" She shook her head. "Really?"

"Yeah, but I don't mind." Now. She didn't mind now. She'd probably end up crying when she got together with Kasumi and going on about she hated being single.

"Ahem," Kyoya said, catching the attention of Tamaki and the twins. "It's almost time." Everyone rushed around to get into their places.

Aki glanced at the hosts. They all posed by holding roses out in front of them. Kyoya had his notebook opened and faced to the side a bit, holding the rose out with his right hand. Mori and Honey were next to him, Mori doing the same type of pose as Kyoya (minus the notebook, and he was facing the other way so he held the rose with his left hand) and Honey had Usa-chan in his right arm and the rose in his left. Tamaki stood in the middle with a bouquet of roses in his hand. He held it out in front of him and bowed a little. The twins were on his left with Haruhi sandwiched between them. They had their arms around her shoulders while holding out roses in their free hands. Haruhi held her rose in both hands. They all put on smiles just before the door opened.

"Honey-senpai looks so cute!"

"Even Usa-chan is dressed up, huh?"

"Haruhi looks so adorable!"

"The suits are really well made."

"I wonder if they're going to wear these to the dance?"

"No way. I heard they'll be changing suits."

The girls quickly split into their groups and a couple more squeals were heard when some of them were given roses.

Aki watched them all sit down, then turned to her plate of cookies in her hand. Her stomach grumbled a bit.

_I haven't eaten since lunch...and even then I didn't eat much_, she thought. _I'm sure no one would mind if I just ate _one _cookie_.

She glanced around, then picked up a cookie. Before she could take a bite, however, Hikaru and Kaoru called her over. She quickly dropped the cookie and walked over to them. As soon as she reached their section she could hear the girls letting out little gasps and "ooh"s and "aah"s.

Hikaru took the plate from Aki and put it on the table, then he and Kaoru pushed her in front of their clients.

"Ta-da!"

"Wow!" One of the girls leaned towards Aki. "This dress is so cute!"

"Did your mom make it?" another asked. The twins grinned and nodded.

"Yup! Just for Puppy!" Hikaru and Kaoru wrapped their arms around Aki's shoulders.

"Isn't she the cutest?" Hikaru asked. "Maybe even cute enough to be my valentine."

"But...I thought you said _I _was your valentine..." Kaoru said.

"Oh man," Aki muttered, hurrying away from them as they started their brotherly love act.

"Aki-chan, come over here!" Tamaki said, waving her over. As soon as she walked over he was showing her off the guests and talking about the dress.

"How cute!" one of the girls said.

"You're so adorable, Aki-chan!" another said. Aki just smiled and nodded.

That's pretty much how the club went for her. She'd go to a table, show off the dress, be called cute, then leave for another table. When Rei and Emiko showed up, Rei nearly flipped out, saying that she was jealous and she wanted to wear the dress, too. There were a couple times when Aki was alone (usually when she was getting more tea) and she spent most of it turning and bouncing around so the skirt would bounce. She couldn't help it, it was just fun to do.

Once the club was over she changed out of the dress (but not after taking a couple pictures for Michiko) and into casual clothing. She would have changed into her uniform if she was just going home, but Kyoya had told her the other day that everyone would stay after the club to decorate the ballroom (what kind of school has a ballroom?) so she brought a pair of jeans, a tank top, a jacket, and sneakers.

"Ready to go?" Aki asked Haruhi after they were dressed. Haruhi was wearing jeans, a sweater, and sneakers.

"Yep." They stepped out of the room and met the other hosts who were dressed pretty similarly. They all had on jeans and sneakers, a few had on tank tops and the rest had on t-shirts.

Once they were all ready, they headed off to the ballroom. It was just like Aki expected. Large with high ceilings, windows that went from the ceiling to the floor, chandelier hanging high above their heads, and floors that were polished so much that Aki could see her reflection. It even had a double staircase leading up to a high platform.

"This isn't like Tomoko's," she muttered. She was used to dances being held in a gym, but this was something else. How were they supposed to decorate it?

"Alright, there are decorations in the back," Kyoya said. "Ladders as well, and anything else you'll need."

"Let's go!" Honey said from his spot on Mori's shoulders. Mori walked to one of the doors at the back of the room while the others followed him, though Kyoya stayed behind.

"Aren't you coming?" Haruhi asked.

"I'm waiting for Mr. Higa."

"C'mon," Aki said, linking her arm with Haruhi's and pulling her along.

They followed the others into the room where they found boxes of decorations. They were all labeled and stacked up according to their different occasions. They were also ordered by time of the year and, if there were multiple parties or dances for the same month, by the day. On closer inspection, she noticed that even the boxes were set up in alphabetical order.

"Someone has OCD," she muttered.

"Here," Mori said, handing her box of decorations. She struggled with it for a moment, but eventually got it secure in her hands.

The hosts grabbed boxes, one for each of them (except for Mori who grabbed the ladders), and they all headed back into the ballroom. By that time another boy had arrived and was talking to Kyoya. He had fluffy, slightly curly black hair and glasses, but that's all she could really tell about him.

"Who's that talking to Kyoya-senpai?" Haruhi asked.

"That's Keiji Higa," Tamaki answered. "The DJ for tonight."

"Kei-chan!" Honey called. Keiji and Kyoya turned to the hosts. Honey waved to them. "Hi, Kei-chan!" Keiji hesitated, then waved back.

"Time to get to work," Kaoru said, putting his box down. Everyone else followed suit.

"Aki-chan, can you help me pull out the chairs and tables?" Tamaki asked. She shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah, why not?"

They went back to the back room and started pulling out tables one by one while the others set up the decorations.

"So...are we having dinner here or something?" Aki asked when they set down the third table. Tamaki nodded.

"The ballroom opens at five and dinner will start at six."

"What?! Five! Senpai, we've gotta hurry!" She grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the back room. "Come on, hurry up. Jeez, Tamaki-senpai, we don't have enough time for this!"

"Don't worry, Aki-chan. We'll have enough time."

"Five o'clock, Senpai! _Five_!"

"We'll have enough time," Tamaki said again with a chuckle. "Don't worry!"

She shook her head and grabbed a table. "Help me with this."

They continued to pull out tables until Kyoya told them that they had enough, then they got out the chairs. While they did this, the twins, Haruhi, Mori, and Honey put up the decorations which consisted of hearts, hearts, and more hearts. She was going to need a break from hearts for a while. And red. There was a lot of that, too.

The decoration team put red, pink, and white streamers wherever possible. They stuck roses of the same colors into vases on the wall. They blew up some balloons stuck them onto the vases. Tamaki, Aki, and Kyoya laid out red tablecloths on the tables. Small glass vases were placed in the middle of the tables. They put in little plastic hearts and rose petals to fill about a quarter of the vase, then put in tall candles. Kyoya had Aki, Haruhi, and the twins put red tablecloths on the four long tables in the back of the room and candles at the ends. Apparently the sweets and snacks would be on the long tables.

"Time to get dressed," the twins said after finishing the tables. They grabbed the girls and pulled them into one of the dressing rooms. They pulled two bags off of the clothes rack and gave them to the girls as well as black dress shoes for Haruhi and black flats for Aki.

"Hurry up," Hikaru said, pushing Haruhi behind one curtain.

"We'll be back for you," Kaoru murmured in Aki's ear before pushing her behind the other one. Once she was sure they left, Aki turned to her bag and unzipped it.

The dress had a single thick strap that went on her left shoulder, and the neckline was a sweetheart one. It was dark red and looked about floor length. Around the waist was a black ribbon that was tied in the front just above her right hip and was held together with a heart-shaped pin. The skirt of the dress fell down in waves and puffed out a little. The whole dress had some glitter or something like that on it because it started to glimmer when she moved it.

_I'm going to have to ban red in the house after this_, Aki thought, shaking her head.

Aki slipped out of her clothes and pulled on the dress, bouncing around a bit after it was on to see if the skirt would bounce like the short dress' had. It did. She slipped her feet into the flats before stepping out of the curtain.

Haruhi was already ready, she was just finishing tying her tie. She was dressed in a suit like before, but it was all white, and the vest and tie were red, and she had one white gloves.

"You look good," Aki said, walking up to her and nudging her. She turned to Aki and smiled.

"So do you," she said.

Then the door opened and in came the twins, dressed like Haruhi. They grabbed Aki and sat her down on a chair in the room, then did her hair and make-up. Her make-up was thick eyeliner, mascara, light pink blush, red lipstick., and light brown eyeshadow. The ends of her hair was curled a little more and it all rested on her right shoulder. A comb was put in her hair so it would stay that way.

"Done," Hikaru and Kaoru said, holding up a mirror.

"Wonderful like before," Aki said, getting out of her seat. They put their things away, then hooked their arms through Aki's and walked out into the ballroom.

Apparently someone had come in while they were getting dressed because the long tables were full of sweets and the round tables had plates and glasses on them with thin white doilies under the plates. And, she wasn't entirely sure, but she thought that she could smell cooked meat.

"Okay, we're all standing on the staircases," Hikaru said. "Except for Boss who's up on the platform."

"You'll stand in the center," Kaoru said, pointing to the area between the staircases. "Tamaki's going to make a speech when enough people are here, then we'll go eat at our own table–"

"Our own meaning just for us and Haruhi," Hikaru said. Kaoru nodded. "the other four will be right next to us. We get the tables up front."

"After dinner we'll start dancing."

"Don't step on my feet."

"If you don't want me to then don't dance with me," Aki said.

"Places, everyone, places!" Tamaki said. The twins set Aki in her spot before going to their own spots at the foot of each staircase. Behind Hikaru were Haruhi and Kyoya, and behind Kaoru were Honey and Mori, and Tamaki was at the top. Aki glanced around for Keiji, wondering where he'd gone off to, but didn't see him.

"Where's Keiji?" she asked Hikaru.

"Up on the platform with his laptop and out of the way," he answered.

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence, then the doors opened and students started to walk in. Aki rocked on her feet, waiting for Tamaki to start his speech. It took a while, actually, until he gave a loud, "Welcome!" and quieted everyone down. He then asked them to sit down before going on about how happy he was that everyone came and promising to have a good time. He said a couple more things, but Aki became more focused on the smell of food that kept getting stronger and stronger. Her stomach started growling at one point, and she was really, really grateful when Tamaki finished his speech.

"And without further ado, let's eat!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, a hoard of men and woman walked into the ballroom with platters of different foods. Pork chops, ham, steak, beef wellington, mashed potatoes, carrots, steamed vegetables, and other things. Her mouth started to water and she nearly ran to her seat. Well, she nearly ran to the _wrong_ seat.

"Ah ah," Kaoru said, grabbing Aki just when she was about to pull out a chair at one of the two empty tables. "That isn't ours."

"Does it matter?" she mumbled, but turned and pulled out a chair at the other table and sat down with her classmates. Tamaki sat down behind her at the other table with the rest of the hosts.

Two men stepped up to their table, showing them the different dishes. Aki got the pork chops with sliced ham and steamed vegetables. As soon as it was set down she started to eat.

_Amazing_, she thought, smiling a bit.

She ate every bit, savoring the flavor, and eventually cleaned off her plate. She was still kind of hungry and was tempted to ask the others at their table if they were going to finish their food. She didn't, and instead stuffed herself with sweets. After she was satisfied, she kept talking to Tamaki until Kyoya decided that it was time to dance. So, Tamaki stood up and told everyone that it was time to dance, and asking them to leave their seats even if they weren't going to. They all obliged and once everyone was up the men and woman from before appeared again and moved the tables and chairs to the walls, then set up the chairs along the inside of the tables for anyone who wasn't going to dance just yet.

"Aki-chan, Aki-chan, dance with me first!" Honey said, appearing at Aki's side and grabbing her hand.

"Alright."

As soon as the music started, Honey pulled Aki onto the dance floor. Others started doing the same, so they weren't alone. Aki and Honey started dancing, although it was more like they were playing helicopter. It started off as a normal dance, then they started to spin, and spin, and spin, and spin...

Eventually Rei appeared and asked to dance with Honey. They both nodded and when Honey wasn't looking, Aki mouthed, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Rei mouthed back.

Rei and Honey moved away. Aki held her head and tried to keep the world from spinning. She was blinking away the dizziness when someone grabbed her and started dancing with her.

"You look dizzy," Kyoya said.

"Because I am." She shook her head a little and danced quietly, still trying to get herself together. Eventually the world was stable, so she decided to start some conversation. "So, what? Not afraid of me crushing your feet now?"

"You've been doing good in practice, so I think I'm alright."

"Ooh, a compliment. You starting to like me?"

"I never said I didn't like you."

"You never said you did."

Then he took her into a dip. For a second she thought he was going to drop her.

"I never said I didn't."

"Got it, right, your never said you didn't," she said as he pulled her back up.

They danced until the song ended. Then she started dancing with Mori. Well, she didn't dance much. He instead had her standing on his feet while he turned around. It actually wasn't that bad, aside from the awkward silence.

"Thanks, Senpai," Aki said. He nodded.

Then it was Kaoru who was dancing with her. They started off talking normally, then somehow ended up making funny faces at each other. They kept that up until she stumbled over his foot and face-planted his chest, his chin hitting her forehead in the process.

"Ow," she said, chuckling and rubbing her head. "Sorry."

"Pay attention next time," he said, chuckling as well.

"Ah, well, song's over." She scrunched up her nose and glanced around. "Ooh, look, over there. I think there's a girl who'd like to dance with a certain someone."

Kaoru looked around until he noticed the girl that was looking right at them. She quickly looked away after realizing that she'd been caught.

"And I see a certain boss who looks like he'd like to dance with a certain someone," he said. Aki looked back and noticed Tamaki walking over to them.

"You don't know if he's coming to dance. Anyway, go on." She let go and turned towards Tamaki.

"Watch where you're going," Kaoru said.

"Yeah yeah, I will."

Aki and Tamaki walked up to each other and immediately went to dancing, smiling at their partner.

"Been having a good time?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes! I've had a wonderful time with all the princesses!" he said, twirling Aki around. "Well, not all of them, but I hope to be able to dance with all of them."

"Well what are you doing with me, huh? If you wanna dance with all of them then get to it."

"But you _are _a princess, Aki-chan."

"I thought I was your daughter."

"You _are _my daughter, but you're a princess, too! Isn't that what all dads are supposed to think about their daughters?"

"I guess so." She paused. "Well, if I'm a princess, then you must be a king. Maybe even the best king?"

"Kiss up," Kaoru muttered as he danced past her.

"Shut up," she hissed, then was engulfed in a hug.

"You really think I'm a king?" Tamaki asked.

"Y-Yeah, you're a king," she said, a little surprised by the sudden hug. "King Tamaki."

He spun her around, then set her down and continued dancing. After a moment they ran into (not literally, thankfully) Hikaru and Haruhi. By that time the song was over.

"I'll trade you Haruhi for Aki," Hikaru said. And so Haruhi and Aki switched partners.

"Don't step on my feet, okay?" he said as they danced away.

"I'll try, though I've been doing pretty good so far, so I don't think you need to worry," Aki said. "So...you having fun?"

He shrugged. "It's alright. It'd be a lot more fun if we had a contest like last time."

"Last time?"

"The Christmas dance." She gave him a blank stare. He sighed, then went on to tell her about the Christmas dance where Haruhi was put in a dress (now she knew what Tamaki had been talking about), her first kiss with a girl, and how they helped two people get together.

"Okay, I got it," she said. "And you guys had points and a kissing contest. That would have been pretty nice for this dance, I think."

"Oh?" Hikaru grinned and raised his eyebrows. "Is there someone you want to kiss?"

"No. Shut up."

"I won't tell."

"I don't even like anyone here enough to want to kiss them."

"Mhm."

"How about you, huh?" He shook his head. "Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

"I'm _sure_."

For most of the rest of the dance they had a playful argument over whether or not the other liked someone at the school, then just casual chit-chat until a girl came up and asked to dance with him. With that they were done dancing with each other, and for to moment Aki was just done dancing.

_Didn't even step on anyone's feet_, she though triumphantly. _Well, except for Kaoru, but it's more like I tripped._

She looked around for something to do. She spotted Rei and Emiko, but they were both dancing with someone. All the hosts were dancing, too. That was pretty much all she had for close friends, and she didn't want to dance with just any guy. She thought for a moment. Maybe she could go see how Keiji's doing? Or, see what he's doing. Maybe she could get him to play a fast song.

So, Aki headed up the stairs. She spotted Keiji slumped on a chair, staring at his laptop which was set on a coffee table. He wasn't dressed up or anything, he just had on a grey hoodie, jeans, and sneakers.

Aki walked up to him and said, "Hello." He didn't answer. She then noticed that he had big headphones on, so she tapped him.

Keiji jumped and looked over at her with wide eyes (he had pretty greenish-brown eyes). He stood up and his headphones were yanked off of his head, making his glasses look crooked and the hair around his ears stick out.

"I'm s-s-sorry!" he said, quickly bowing.

"Huh? Hey, no need to bow to me," Aki said. Keiji stood up and readjusted his thick glasses.

"Yo-you're from the ho-host club, a-aren't you?" he asked, looking her up and down. "I s-saw y-you earlier." Then he bowed again. "M-My name is Kei-Kei-K-K-K-Ke..." He let out a frustrated sigh and was quiet for a moment. "I'm K-Keiji Hig-ga."

"Er, are you alright?" Aki asked. He stood up and nodded.

"I'm f-fine, I just have a st-st-stu-stutter. I've ha-had it since a was li-l-little."

"Oh." This was the first time she'd met anyone who stuttered like that.

"Y-Yeah. It's usually not t-too b-b-ba-bad, but it somet-times gets worse ar-round g-g-girls...especially p-pretty gi-girls..."

Aki hesitated, then smiled and laughed a bit. "You trying to make a move on me, huh, Higa-senpai?"

Keiji shook his head and blushed. "N-n-n-no. I'm sorry if that m-m-made you uncom-com-co-un...uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine. I'm Aki Fukuda, by the way."

He nodded. "It's ni-ice to m-meet you, Miss F-F-Fukud-da. Um...I d-don't mean to be ru-rude, but wha-wh-what are you doing up here? Shouldn't you b-b-be dancing with so-some-someone?"

"Nah. I've been dancing a lot so I'm just taking a break. I also wanted to see if you could play some faster music? You know, dance music instead of slow classical music? Not like it's bad, but it gets boring, y'know?"

He nodded and turned to his laptop. "D-Don't worry, I have a couple f-fa-faster songs coming up in a s-second. Ootori-s-sama already m-made sure I had someth-thing fast to p-p-play, and the Hitach-chiins already asked for f-faster songs, as well as a coup-ple other people."

"Oh, okay...Um, you aren't going to dance?"

"No. I'm n-not even d-dr-dressed to dance, and I didn't wa-w-want to dance in the f-f-f-first place. I'm only h-here because O-O-Oot-t-to-toro – Ootori! Ootori-sama!" Aki slapped a hand over her mouth to cover up a smile.

"Ootoro-sama," she snickered, turning away for a moment. She wasn't trying to be rude to Keiji or anything, but that was funny. She couldn't stop imagining Kyoya dressed up as a piece of sushi now.

"P-P-Pl-lease do-on't tell O-Ootori-sama!" Keiji said, pressing his palms together. "I do-don't want him to b-be mad a-a-at me!"

"I'm not gonna tell him," Aki said, turning back to Keiji. "Don't worry. And if it does slip out, I'm not gonna tell him you're the one that originally came up with the name."

"P-P-Pr-Promise?"

"Promise."

Keiji let out a small sigh and seemed to relax a little. "An-nyway, I'm only here bec-c-cause _Ootori_-sama asked me to h-handle the mu-mu-m-mus-s...music."

"So I'm guessing if he hadn't asked, you wouldn't be here?"

He shook his head. "N-No, I wouldn't. Alth-though, Hisao might have ma-m-made me come anyway."

"Your older brother?"

"Yeah. Ho-how'd you know?"

"Honey-senpai mentioned him. He's the one who suggested that you handle the music."

"Oh..."

"You think Aki-chan's up here?" She could hear someone coming up the staircase, and they sounded like Rei.

"I'm sure I saw her come up here." That was Emiko.

In an instant the two were standing at the top of the stairs. Emiko grinned at Aki. She was dressed in a short sleeve-less dress that was white at the top and sparkled when she moved and the bottom was made of thin pink fabric the puffed out a bit, and her shoes were white flats. Her hair was pulling into a bun, although a couple curled strands hung loose. Rei had on a floor-length, strapless, pale-pink dress that looked a little similar to Aki's, although the skirt was completely straight and the ribbon was red and tied in the back. Aki couldn't see her shoes, but she guessed they were heels by the way she was clicking up the stairs. She had on a white headband that held her hair away from her face, and it all rested in front of her shoulders.

"Hiya, Aki-chan!" Rei said.

"Hi, Aki-chan!" Emiko said. Then she noticed Keiji. "Hello, Higa-senpai!"

"Oh! Hi, Higa-senpai!"

Keiji let out a sound like a mix between "hello" and an embarrassed whimper before turning to his laptop.

"Aki-chan, c'mon," Rei said, grabbing Aki's hand. "We're going to dance together."

"Okay, then. See you, Higa-senpai," Aki called. He let out a "good-bye"/whimper.

"Bye, Higa-senpai!" Rei and Emiko said before they all went back downstairs and started dancing together.

**A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter! I hope Keiji's speech was alright. I've never done a character who's got a natural stutter before, so I hope I'm writing it decently enough. Sorry if it's annoying, but I just thought it would be a cool idea and a nice challenge. And Keiji will be a reoccurring character, I think. I know he'll show up in another chapter for sure, I'm just not sure about any more other than being mentioned. Also, if anyone actually noticed and is wondering why I don't use -san (I use Mr. or Miss or Mrs.) but I use -sama, it's because -san is easy to translate and it's not super formal, unlike -sama. If I used Mr., Miss, or Mrs. for -sama, you wouldn't know if it's very respectful or not, would you?**

**Anyway, thanks again for reading, and thanks a bunch to everyone who reviews, favorited, followed, etc.**


	10. Chapter 9

"Aki-chi!" Aki nearly fell down when she was attacked with a hug. She stumbled back and struggled to keep her balance, but eventually managed it.

"Kasumi, be careful," Aki grumbled while her best fried snuggled into her chest.

"Aki, I wish you could have gone to the dance with me! It was fun!" Kasumi said, her voice muffled by Aki's chest.

"Well, I had another dance to go to."

"I know, I know. How'd that go, by the way?"

"Fine, now get your face out of my chest."

Kasumi stepped back and smiled up at Aki.

"Better?" she asked.

"Better," Aki said with a nod.

Kasumi was a tiny thing compared to Aki, and probably every other girl in their neighborhood. While Aki was about five feet and seven inches, Kasumi was four feet and eleven inches. What she lacked in height she made up in energy, and looks. She was adorable even without make-up. She had big brown eyes (really helped out when she was doing puppy dog eyes), nearly white skin, a button nose, a cute round face (almost like a baby's), and her eyebrows were a nice in-between of thick and thin. Her long hair was naturally dark brown, but she'd had it dyed to it was a light chestnut color, and it was naturally straight but she often curled the ends so they made big, thick curls. She had a childish look, but not as much as Honey, and there was a hint of maturity under all the cute. But it was pretty well masked by how cute she was, and she wanted it to be that way.

"You didn't go home and change, huh?" Aki asked, looking at Kasumi's outfit. She was wearing a short pink dress with white hearts dotting the skirt, a pink headband, white flats, and a bunch of jewelery that had a heart somewhere on it.

Kasumi shook her head, making her extra curly curls bounce. "Nope. I mean, I went home, but only to get my things. Mom had them ready for me." She gestured to the duffel bag across her shoulder and the plastic bags in her hand. The plastic bags looked like they were being weighed down by an excessive amount of sweets.

"That's a lot..." Aki muttered, peering into the bags.

"Well, we're going to drown ourselves in sweet sorrow, aren't we?" Kasumi replied with a laugh. "By the way, where's Michiko? She's joining us, right?"

"No actually. Auntie has a date." Lucky.

"What? Really?! With who?"

"Jin." Michiko appeared behind Aki, finishing putting on her last earring. She was wearing a simple floor-length red dress that hugged her figure and had red lipstick, black eyeliner, and thick black mascara on. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun.

"Really?! You _finally _said yes?"

"Yes, I finally said yes."

"And about time, too," Aki commented. "That crazy guy's been going after you for _three years!_"

"I know, I know, he kept going on about that when I said yes," Michiko said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I think it's only been two."

"The first time he asked you was in January. It's been three, Auntie."

"But he had some girlfriends during that time, right?" Kasumi said. "Didn't he have a girlfriend last year?"

"Well, he had one in the first year I think to make me jealous – I'm not joking, either, or making it seem like it's all centered around me," she added when Aki raised her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure that's what he told me after they ended it...it was her choice, by the way, and he actually really liked her in the end. Then he had another girlfriend for a week, then a steady girlfriend last year for a few months. That's all I can remember, though."

"He's finally got his dream girl, huh?" Kasumi said.

"I don't know if I'm his dream girl..."

Aki rolled her eyes. "Auntie, he's been asking you out for three years. I think you're his dream girl."

"I think that's exaggerating."

At that moment the doorbell rang. Kasumi turned and opened it, revealing Jin who was wearing a tuxedo. Aki had to hide a smile. He looked pretty silly and strange compared to his normal appearance. He'd even tamed his hair.

"Jin!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"Kasu-chan!" Jin said, grinning at the girl. He reached out a hand and rubbed her head. "Nice to see you."

"Hey! I spent a lot of time doing my hair!" Kasumi said, pushing his hand away and smoothing out her hair.

"You only curled the ends," Aki pointed out. "And the strand of hair in front of your face."

"But I spent time brushing back my hair and making it look perfect."

"Michiko!" Jin said, spotting the woman. He walked up to her and bowed a little, holding out a vibrant red rose. "Got this for you. A beauty for a beauty, although you're much, much more beautiful than this rose."

"I would hope so," Michiko said with a small laugh. Jin straightened up and she took the rose, then kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Jin. I'm gonna go put this in a vase before I forget, alright?"

"Alright." He and the teenagers watched Michiko leave, then turned to each other. Jin punched the air while the girls gave him thumbs up.

"Heck yeah! Already got a kiss!" he said.

"Good job," Aki said.

"A kiss this early!" Kasumi said, clapping her hands and smiling. "That's good, really good!"

"But it's not like a kiss on the lips," Aki added. Kasumi stopped clapping and shook her head.

"Nope, not at all like that."

"Psh, how would you two know? You haven't even had your first kisses yet," Jin said, rolling his eyes.

Kasumi frowned and stuck her tongue out at him. "Nyeh!"

"I might not have had a real kiss yet, but I'm sure it's not like kisses on the cheek," Aki said.

Michiko came back a second later and Jin quickly held his arm out to her. "Shall we?"

"We shall," she said, accepting his arm. "Tomi-chan, Kasu-chan, you two be good, alright? Don't burn the house down, don't do or look at anything inappropriate, don't drink any alcohol or do drugs, and don't do other things a responsible guardian would tell you not to do, okay?"

"Got it," the girls chorused. "Bye! Have fun on your date!"

"Bye!" Jin and Michiko said before walking out of the house.

"Did you know that you look more radiant than the sun?" Jin said.

"Oh, don't bring that one up again," Michiko muttered.

"That deserves a kiss!" Aki called. Her aunt laughed and shook her head.

"It does!" Kasumi agreed.

"Goodbye, you two!"

"I think it deserves a kiss," Jin muttered.

Aki smiled at the two, then pulled Kasumi inside and closed the door, locking it. "Okay, you go get changed and I'll turn on the TV. Oh, TV or movie? Or cartoon?"

"I wanna watch..._I Give My First Love to You_."

"Sure thing, Kasu." She wanted to start off with a sad movie? Okay, then...

"Yay! Thanks, Aki-chi!" With that Kasumi skipped off to Aki's room to change.

Aki stepped into the living room and grabbed her book full of dvds. She flipped a couple pages until she finally found the disk, then popped it into the dvd player.

"Hurry up, Kasumi!" she called, sitting with her back against the couch.

"Hold on, hold on!" There was a long silence. Finally she heard Kasumi walking down the hallway, probably swinging the plastic bags. She appeared in the living room, wearing a short white nightgown and fuzzy pink pants with white polka dots on them. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, tied with a white ribbon. She had wiped off all her make-up, too.

Kasumi sat down next to Aki and immediately dumped out the contents of the plastic bags. It was like a waterfall of sweets.

"We're going to get cavities after tonight," Aki said.

"That's the plan, isn't it?"

"I guess so."

Aki played the movie, but they quickly stopped paying attention and focused more on the sweets and talking about the dances.

"I danced with a lot of guys," Kasumi said after finishing off her truffle. "Nobuo mostly 'cause he 'wanted to make the other guys jealous' or something. I wish he wouldn't do that, though. I'm going to end up single forever if he keeps that up."

"Maybe he likes you, Kasu," Aki said, popping a grape hi-chew into her mouth.

"Don't start that up again! Anyway, he's got a boyfriend as you know."

"He said they aren't official."

"They might as well be. Whenever he wasn't dancing with me he was dancing with that guy."

"Ooh, 'that guy'. Someone sounds jealous."

"I'm not jealous! Even if I am, it's only because Nobu has a boyfriend and I don't," she said with a pout on her face. "It's no fair. Am I not cute enough? Or maybe I'm too cute?"

"You're very cute, Kasumi. If anything, you'd be too cute."

"Maybe boys just don't like me..."

"Of course they do, idiot."

"Then how come they don't ask me out, huh? I'm not good enough, right? Oh, I'll never get a boyfriend! I'll be single forever! An old, single lady. I'll become a shut-in!"

Aki stuffed a small chocolate cake into Kasumi's mouth. "Shut up, Kasumi. Of course you're going to get a boyfriend. You're too cute to not have one. I just think all the guys are nervous. And maybe you should try dating Nobuo like I've been telling you to."

"But he's got a boyfriend!"

"Well not _now _of course."

"And, anyway, he's...Nobuo."

"He's cute."

"Yeah, but he's my childhood friend."

"Still."

"Anyway, he's never made an attempt to date me, so why should I make an attempt to date him? The guy's supposed to make the first move, aren't they?...Let's not talk about me. How about you? What was the dance like?"

"They had a ballroom."

"What?!"

"Yeah, no gym, though I'm sure it wouldn't be too much different if it were held in the gym."

"Wow! I've never heard of a school having a ballroom."

"I don't think they're supposed to."

"Was it big?"

"Duh."

"How big?"

"Real big."

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "Nevermind. Did you dance with all the guys?"

"No, of course not. There are too many of them, and some of them didn't even want to dance."

"Wha – no, that's not what I meant! I was talking about those host club guys! Did you dance with them?"

"Oh, yeah, all of them."

"Really? What was it like? Was it romantic?"

"No, of course not. I'm pretty sure none of us like each other in that sense."

"Aw, boo. Well, was it fun at least?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I pretty much just swung Honey-senpai around. Kyoya-senpai dipped me one time –" Cue a gasp from Kasumi. "And Mori-senpai let me stand on his feet while he pretty much danced for both of us –" Gasp. "Tamaki-senpai called me a princess –" Gasp! "Hikaru and I argued – _playfully_ argued – and me and Kaoru made funny faces at each other."

"Cute!" Kasumi squealed. "You're all so cute together! I don't know who to ship!"

Aki sighed. Kasumi was a lot like Michiko in a way. "How about you don't ship me with anyone?"

"No way. You ship me with Nobuo, so I get to ship you with one of the hosts."

"What if I don't even like any of them like that? Because I don't."

"I don't even like Nobuo romantically."

Aki gave another sigh and dropped the subject. Kasumi was going to ship her with someone anyways, whether she wanted her to or not.

"Oh, oh, Aki, do you have any pictures?" Kasumi asked, turning to her.

"Yeah, actually. On my phone, wherever that is." Aki felt around on the floor for her phone, then turned to the couch for it. She eventually found it between the seat cushions.

"Okay, here," she said, going to the picture app. She pressed on the first picture of the day which was of her in the short dress.

"That dress is so cute! I wish I could wear it! It's better than the dress I was wearing today, that's for sure."

Aki shook her head. "No way, your dress looked cute. And it looked a lot more comfortable than mine was."

"It's still really cute, though."

"Yeah, it's still really cute."

She flipped through two more pictures of the dress for the host club, then got to the dress for the dance.

"Ooh, that's pretty," Kasumi said, leaning towards the phone. Aki pushed her head back.

"Don't lean in too far, you'll screw up your eyes," she muttered.

"My eyes are fine! And glasses are cute."

"Blurry vision isn't."

"Oh, how would you know? Your vision's fine."

"I just know."

"Okay, back to the dress! That's really pretty. I want it.".

"Then go commission Mrs. Hitachiin for it, but you probably won't be able to afford it."

"I know..."

"Where would you even wear it to?"

"Dances, of course."

"Well, yeah, but how many dances can you go to?"

"Not a lot." Kasumi stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry. "I guess I can't ever get it. It's too expensive and I have no good reasons to wear it to anything."

"It's alright," Aki said, patting her friend's back. "You have a bunch more dresses that are cuter than this one, and you can wear them pretty much anywhere. And I'm sure that combined they're worth more than this dress."

"I doubt it. None of them were made by Yuzuha Hitachiin."

"I doubt that they aren't more than Mrs. Hitachiin's dress." Aki closed her phone and tossed it back on the couch. "Okay, no more talk of dresses or shipping or dances! Let's focus on the movie before we miss our chance to cry at all the sad parts."

Kasumi grinned and nodded. "Alright!"

So they shut up and watched the movie. In no time Kasumi was already crying. It took Aki a while, but she ended up crying anyway, and by the end of the movie they were both crying buckets of tears and the knees of Aki's pants were stained with tears.

"Poor Takuma!" Kasumi blubbered. "Poor Mayu! Why couldn't they have a happy ending?"

Aki rubbed Kasumi's back. "Calm down Kasu," she said, wiping her own eyes.

Kasumi didn't listen or continued to go on about the movie, but she was stuttering and mumbling so much that Aki couldn't even make out what she was trying to say. Eventually, after Aki had put a box of tissues in front of her, Kasumi calmed down.

"You always cry more than you should during these movies," Aki said with a sigh, cleaning up Kasumi's face.

"More than I should? I think I cry a good amount!" Kasumi retorted. "More than I should would be like crying so much that I can't breathe! _That's _too much for a movie."

"Even still...Let's watch something different. Something happier."

"Love For Beginners?"

"Fine." To be honest, she was tired of love already (she'd heard enough about it during her time with the hosts today), but what was one more movie?

Aki got up and replaced the first disk with the second, then left to the kitchen. "I'm making popcorn!" she called to Kasumi as she pulled out a bag. "Want some, Kasu?"

"No thanks. There are still a lot of sweets."

"Okay, but don't go asking for my popcorn."

She stuck the bag in the microwave and waited while the kernels popped. After it was ready she put it all in a bowl and salted it more than a normal person would, then went back to the living room. Kasumi pressed play on the remote.

The rest of the night was spent pretty much the same. They watched an animated movie, then switched to variety shows, ate snacks, Aki comforted Kasumi when she'd cry over a movie or go on about how she hated being single, and talk. It was fun to do this since they hadn't in a while. Lately they hadn't hung out much, and Aki had to skip out on running on the weekends to finish up homework. Sometimes the damn club was exhausting so she'd end up falling asleep when she got home and putting off her homework until the weekend, and then she was so tired of social interaction that she didn't want to be around anyone during her breaks. This time it was different. She'd finished all her homework, made sure she had nothing to do over the weekend, and now it was all dedicated to her best friend.

Eventually the girls got tired, but they tried their best to stay up. Whoever fell asleep first got a mustache drawn on their face, that was the rule they'd decided on when they were kids. Aki was determined to fall asleep after drawing a mustache on Kasumi's face, but they both ended up falling asleep around the same time. When Michiko returned home she found Kasumi sleeping peacefully on one of the couches and Aki sleeping with her head in the popcorn bowl.


	11. Chapter 10

A month had passed since Valentines Day. Aki was glad that the hype with all the love was over. Even after the holiday it seemed like there was love in the air, and it just made her stomach hurt. Michiko would say that she was just bitter because she didn't have a boyfriend so she didn't know how great love was. Aki would have replied with a, "You don't know how great love is either. You're single", but Michiko _was _her guardian and she _could_ ground Aki over that, so she'd rather not take a chance. She wasn't even sure if the single part was right, either. True, Michiko had gone on a date with Jin, but she'd only gone on one date and they hadn't even done any lovey-dovey stuff (though Michiko did say that she fed Jin during lunch, but Aki was pretty sure they were only joking around with each other), so that didn't mean that they were a couple, right?

Aki shrugged off the thought as she started to walk away from her house. It wasn't too big a deal.

"Good morning, Suzu-chan!" She glanced to her side and waved at Nobuo who was making his way to Tomoko High.

"Good morning, Nobuo-kun!" she said.

They smiled at each other before turning and continuing on their way. Aki pulled out her iPod and scrolled through her songs. What to listen to, what to listen to...?

Finally she decided on "Colorful Love" by Exile Atsushi. It may have been about love, but it was a pretty fun, upbeat song. She hummed to the lyrics once the song started and her pace switched to match the beat of the song. She couldn't get enough of it when it was over, so she just put it on repeat.

"_It's not just fantasy,_" she sung in English, under her breath. She nearly skipped off of the train. "_What can this truly be...And I think it is destiny..._"

At that moment her headphones were pulled out of her ears. She turned around to glare at whoever did it. Not only did that hurt _and _scare her, but they interrupted the song!

"Dammit, Jin-ho," she grumbled. He just smiled at her. "What do you want?"

"Hey, that's no way to talk to an adult," he said, poking out his tongue.

"Can I help you?"

"Better. And, yes, you can. When you get home today, can you ask Michiko about going on a date with me on the fourteenth?"

She furrowed her brow. "Um, you work with her, dummy. Why don't you ask her there?"

"I'm going out of town for a while today, so I won't be at work."

"Why not send her a text then? Or, better yet, _call her_."

"My phone's dead. Plus, that's not romantic."

"Neither is having her niece ask her."

"It's better than a text."

"Okay, why not a letter?"

"A letter?"

"Yeah. Auntie loves love letters."

"But this is an asking-out-on-a-date letter, not a love letter."

"Then make it a love letter."

"I don't have time to write a letter, Tomi-chan. I'm leaving in a while, and I have to make sure I have everything ready."

"Still, even a text or a rushed letter or _a call _is better than me being your messenger."

"Owl. You're my owl."

"What?"

"Nothing, sorry. Just a Harry Potter reference."

"Why don't you just call her when your phone is charged?"

"Aha, well, I'm not exactly staying at a place that has electricity."

"What?"

"I'm going camping for almost the whole week."

Aki frowned up at him. "What the hell? Why are you going camping at the most random of times? And for so long?"

"It's a way of sucking up to Big Boss," he said, rubbing his neck. "I'm trying to get him off my ass about a recent screw up...anyway, can you please ask Michiko? And tell her why I'm not calling her or asking her in person or over a text or letter?"

Aki sighed and nodded. "Fine, I'll tell her."

"Thank you!"

"Next time have your phone charged. Or, better yet, tell her the day before you're going on a trip."

"I will, promise. Thanks again, Aki-chan!" He pulled her into a bear hug before letting go, putting her ear buds back in her ears, and hurrying off.

Aki huffed and started back towards Ouran. Really, why didn't he just change his phone? How long does he have before he has to leave, anyway? He could have probably gone to a cafe and charged it instead of asking her to ask Michiko. And the date of the date was a little funny (to her, anyway). It just so happened to be White Day. He probably knew that he wanted the next date to be on White Day for a long time. Why didn't he just ask Michiko at work before today?

Whatever. She didn't need to worry about that now. Just get to school, work at the club, then get home and tell Michiko. She only needed to worry about it then.

The rest of the walk was just fine, thankfully. No interruptions, and she got to finish the song. Wonderful. The class was pretty calm when she entered, too, and Hikaru didn't really bother her during class since his attention was mostly on Kaoru and Haruhi. Fine with her, it just meant she could focus more on her classes. No one talked to her much, either, though she caught Rei and Emiko's eyes a few times and smiled or made faces at them.

Aside from socially, academically the school day was going pretty good. She'd been able to take lots of neat notes (no doodles or anything!), actually pay attention in some of the more boring classes, and she had a test in a couple classes, too, but she was certain that she'd aced those. She did study hard.

Lunch was also great. She sat with Rei and Emiko, ate wonderfully cooked chicken (she went back for seconds just for the chicken and its sweet sauce), and shared some good jokes with the girls. By the time lunch was over her stomach hurt from laughing so much.

No, wait...

Her stomach didn't hurt because she was laughing.

And what the hell did she just feel?

"I need to go to the bathroom," Aki said to her friends. They nodded.

"We'll tell Mr. Watanabe in case you're not back," Emiko said.

"Don't take to long talking to your friend, okay?" Rei added.

"Hey, that was a one time thing," Aki said. Rei rolled her eyes.

"What a liar. We caught you, what, seven times? Emiko?"

"Nine, actually," Emiko said. Aki sighed.

"Anyway, I'm not going to talk to Kasumi. I'll be right out."

"Okay. See you back in class," Emiko said, pulling Rei away.

"See you, Aki-chan!"

"Bye."

Aki ran into the bathroom right after that. "Please don't tell me...not today...not on such a perfect day!" she said when she rushed into a stall.

Sadly for her, what she'd hoped to not come true came true. Mother Nature had reared her ugly head and decided that today, a week earlier than planned, Aki would start her period.

"Damn it," she hissed, searching through her bag for a spare pad. "Today of all days...On a school day!"

_Why _did it have to happen on a school day? Why couldn't it happen at home where she could sleep off the cramps (that always decided to show up the day her time started or the day after. The actual period was more like a warning for the cramps than the cramps were for the period!) and take a pill? Where she didn't have to _work_! Oh, man, did Kyoya let off Haruhi for this? Was he going to let her off? She sure hoped so. She didn't want to be stuck in the club while this was going on. She tended to get emotional during her period, too...that would be embarrassing, just breaking down in front of everyone. She hoped that wouldn't happen! Ugh, and the cramps...she hoped they would be kind to her today. Spare her until she got home.

Needless to say, they didn't. When she got back to class she thought she was alright. She didn't even feel anything. But the more the day progressed, the more she felt the pain. It still wasn't too bad by the time school ended, but she was moving around a lot and sitting awkwardly in her chair to subdue the pain.

The bell for the end of the day rang, and she wanted nothing more than to go home, but the twins pulled her and Haruhi along with them to the club room. Maybe she could skip out...then again, skipping out a day wouldn't help her debt. And, the club wasn't _that _long. She could tough it out until the end...probably...hopefully.

The good thing about the club today was that there was no theme, so everything was calm. The bad thing was that she couldn't sit down because the hosts were constantly calling her over, either for snack refills or to mess with her. Her cramps also got worse during the club until she would bend over in the snack room with her hand pressed against the area where it hurt most.

"C'mon, keep going," she muttered to herself. "Only, what, fifty minutes left? You can make it." But even she couldn't fool herself. Fifty minutes of pain? Not likely. She couldn't stand it for five minutes. She needed to sit down or lie down, not stand and walk around. It hurt! She couldn't do this for fifty minutes...

Oh, great, now her eyes were starting to sting. No, she wouldn't cry! Not during the club, not out in public, and not over something so stupid.

Aki straightened up and got the cookies for Kyoya's table, then hurried out and replaced his dish. She started to turn back to the room to get the tea (which she had forgotten in there), but almost halfway there she stopped to lean against a table and press her arm to her stomach.

"Damn Mother Nature," she hissed under her breath before pushing herself away from the table and hurrying into the snack room.

It was there that she slammed her plate down on the counter. She was angry now, and in her mind she was swearing up a storm, all directed at her period. It changed to swearing about Mother Nature, then whoever decided to make girls get periods in the first place, then at the extra X chromosome for making her a girl in the first place. Why couldn't she be a guy?

Eventually her anger spiraled into a mini-breakdown, but she didn't know what for. Nothing important or tear-worthy, probably. But she couldn't help it. The tears just started rolling down her cheeks. At least she wasn't wailing. This she could handle.

Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder that made her jump. She quickly wiped the tears off of her cheeks and glanced back. It was Kyoya.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "The way you bent over before made it look like you were in pain."

"Oh, no, I'm fine," she said with a small smile. "It was nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing, and your tears don't help to support your claim."

"It's just..." She hesitated. Ugh, she hated mentioning this to a guy. It felt so weird. "Girl problems. I'm having girl problems, you know? And it hurts..." Her cheeks turned bright red.

He nodded. He, thankfully, didn't seem embarrassed over what she'd said. "Well, we can't have you working like this. You'll be bending over every minute or so and crying in front of everyone. Come on, I'm taking you to the nurse."

"I can go on my own."

"I think if I were to let you do that then I'd find you crying in the hallway. Let's go."

He pressed his hand against her back and lead her out of the room. Just him actually seeming to care made her feel even more like crying, and she had to hide her face when they stepped out of the room so no one would see her tears.

A stream of swears shot through her head, mostly being "fuck" and "damn it". This was so embarrassing! Crying _and _having told Kyoya why she was. She could have just lied and said she was starving! That would have been better! Just the amount of embarrassment made her cry even more. Thank goodness she kept it silent, though. If she started crying out loud, she's just _die_.

"You should have told me earlier," Kyoya said while they walked. "You could have gone home."

"But...Going home wouldn't help my debt."

"True, but this doesn't help it, either."

"Wait, you aren't saying that I'm not going to get today's deduction, are you?!"

"No, no, you'll get it, just not as much as usual."

"Damn it..."

They were getting closer to the infirmary. Kyoya leaned down and said, "Don't come back to the club room. You're off today."

"But what's fifty minutes? I can do it," she said, wiping her eyes. She was starting to calm down now, but her cheeks were still red. She hoped he would leave soon so she didn't have to keep feeling embarrassed.

"No. You're off today," he repeated in a firmer tone. She wanted to argue, but he wasn't one to change his mind when it was set. And, anyway, she did want to go home.

"Fine."

They stepped into the infirmary and he called out for Ms. Sato. She appeared a moment later.

"What happened? Did you break something again?" she asked, looking at Aki.

"Not this time," Kyoya said, directing Aki to one of the beds.

"I'm cramping up really bad," Aki said. Ms. Sato frowned.

"Ooh. Okay, I got it," she said. "Just sit tight, Miss Fukuda, I'll be back."

Aki nodded and the nurse left to go find pills. Kyoya sat down on a chair and crossed his legs.

"What are you doing?" she asked, laying on the bed. She let out a small groan and curled into a ball. "Aren't your clients going to miss you?"

"Of course. I'm just going to make sure you don't go back after this. Also, you're going to miss the meeting today, although it's nothing too special."

"Another – ow – theme day?"

"Sort of. It's about White day, since it's this week."

"What, are we wearing white clothing?"

"Correct."

"What, is that all? Not much of a meeting," she said, turning on her other side.

"It's a mini-meeting."

"Isn't there more?" She turned over again.

"Not much. The snacks will be white-chocolate based or have white incorporated in it, such as white icing on a cookie, and the tea will be white tea."

"Don't you think you're being a little excessive with the white?"

"It was Tamaki's idea."

"Miss Fukuda," Ms. Sato said, returning with a pill and a cup of water. Aki sat up and took them in her hands, then popped the pill into her mouth and bit it in half after a moment (she had problems with swallowing it whole). She nearly gagged, but instead she quickly chugged down the water.

"I hate pills," she muttered.

"So do I, hun," Ms. Sato said, taking the cup. "Just wait a moment, it'll take effect soon."

"I'll go get your bag," Kyoya said. He got up and left.

Ms. Sato came back and kept Aki company for a bit. She gave Aki some tips for how to deal with cramps which she was pretty thankful for. Hopefully they'd be able to help her out in the future.

Their conversation was cut short when Rei and Emiko burst through the door with her bag.

"Are you alright, Aki-chan?" Rei asked, running up to Aki.

"Rei, calm down," Emiko sighed.

"I'm fine," Aki said. "I just had some bad cramps, but Ms. Sato gave me a pill so I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm _fine_. What are you guy doing here anyway?"

"Kyoya-senpai told us to come here and take you home," Emiko explained. Aki let out a small groan.

"I can get home on my own."

"He just wanted us to make sure you got there right away."

"Let's go, Aki-chan!" Rei grabbed Aki's hand and pulled her off of the bed. "We can get ice cream on the way there. That makes me feel better when I've got cramps."

Ms. Sato chuckled. Aki had almost forgotten about her. "This takes me back."

_She sounds old, _Aki thought.

"Come on!" Rei said, pulling Aki to the door.

"Thanks, Ms. Sato!" Aki called. The nurse nodded.

"It was no problem, hun. Good bye!"

The girls left the infirmary. Rei kept pulling Aki around the school and didn't stop until they were outside and Aki pointed out that she had no idea where Aki's house even was.

"Oh, yeah." Emiko chuckled, causing Rei to blush a light pink. "Well, go on and take us there, Aki!"

Part of her didn't want to. She was a little worried about what they'd think when they realized that she lived in a middle-class neighborhood. They'd be confused, obviously, and she expected questions about why she was rich but lived in a lower-class neighborhood. She hoped they wouldn't think any less of her (though they sure didn't seem like the type of people to think less of anyone). They were her only good friends outside of the host club at the school, and most of her didn't want to be friends with the hosts anyway. Oh well. She'd just have to hope they wouldn't like her any less.

Oh, what was she thinking? They were bad friends if they liked her any less. Terrible friends. Why should they care about where she lived, really? If they were true friends, they wouldn't mind it.

"Let's go, then," she said.

**A/N: I don't know if I mentioned it, but here:**

**White Day: White Day is on March 14th. Whereas on Valentine's Day girls give guys chocolates, on White Day guys give girls chocolates or other gifts. There's a saying that what the guys give girls should cost three times what the girls gave the guys.**


	12. Chapter 11

The week passed by amazingly fast. When she got home and explained things to Rei and Emiko, they were very accepting, albeit still very confused why she would choose to live where she was. That evening she told Michiko what Jin said. Michiko went off mumbling about him charging his phone and how un-romatic it was having her niece ask for him. Aki also had to turn off her phone eventually because soon after club hours were over Tamaki started blowing it up with texts and phone calls to make sure she was okay.

The day after that the twins kept bugging her about what had happened. They teased her about going to make out with Kyoya for some odd reason (Rei eventually teased her about that too at lunch even though she knew fully well why they'd left), and her blush didn't help her case in saying that she hadn't. When they got to the host club Tamaki nearly drowned her in gingersnaps and it took a lot of convincing for him to stop asking her if she felt alright or if she needed a pill or if she wanted to lay down. The days after that were calm, though, other than Tamaki checking up on her every time he saw her.

Today was Friday, meaning it was White Day. Aki expected to get her "courtesy gift" when she got to class, but not a thing was given to her. She didn't see anything on the other girls' desks either, so at least she wasn't the only one.

"Nothing?" she said to Hikaru. "I told you to get me something today."

"We've got something. You'll get it during the club so don't worry your cute little head over it, alright, Puppy?" Hikaru grinned and rubbed her head, sliding her beanie around.

"Cut it out," she said, swatting his hand away and fixing her hat.

Well, that sucked. She had been craving chocolate since she'd woken up (assuming that was what they were giving her, anyway), but now she had to wait until after school. Great. She was not going to be happy today. See, she was the type of person where when she craved a food she wanted it then and there. She hated waiting a long time for food.

The rest of the day felt longer than usual, and her mind was stuck on the chocolate she hoped she would get. The only time is was off of her mind was during lunch where she had a couple brownies and Haruhi gave her white chocolate in return for the chocolate she got on Valentine's Day, but that was all. Ugh, all she wanted was her courtesy chocolate! Why did they have to wait until the club to actually give it to her?

The bell finally rang for the end of school. Aki already had her things packed up, and after the class bowed and said "Goodbye" to Mr. Watanabe, she turned to Hikaru and Kaoru. Hikaru already had his arm looped through Haruhi's, so Kaoru looped his through Aki's, and the twins linked their free arms with each other.

"Let's go!" they said, pulling the girls out of the room.

When they got to the club room Tamaki went up to Aki to make sure she was okay yet _again_, but she quickly cut across him, saying that her week was over and she was just fine. Then Kyoya told her and Haruhi to go and get dressed, so the girls retreated into the dressing room.

Haruhi's outfit was like the one she'd worn for the Valentine's dance. The jacket, pants, shirt, and tie were all white while the vest and dress shoes were black. Aki only had a simple white sundress with a bow tied in the back and white flats. The two got dressed and, after joking around about how handsome and manly Haruhi looked, left the room. The others were dressed the same as Haruhi.

_Not the best since they've already been done, but what can you really do for White Day? _Aki thought.

She glanced around the room. Nothing much had changed other than the flower vases which seemed to have gained a large amount of flowers, most of them white. There was also a long table in the back of the room. In the middle was a white three-tier cake with black decorations and something written on it (probably "Happy White Day"), and on either side of it were bowls and plates filled with different types of sweets. There were also two chocolate fountains at the ends of the table with strawberries and marshmallows on plates circling the fountains.

"Hey." Aki walked up to the twins and put her hands on her hips. "Can I have my gift now?"

"No," Kaoru said. "You can have it after the club."

"What?! Why?"

"Because we like to tease you," Hikaru said, grinning. She shot them a glare.

"You guys suck."

The twins put on fake pouts. "Aw, don't you like us anymore?"

"Nope."

"Are you mad at us?"

"Yes." Well, not _mad_, really. Irritated was a better word, but she didn't think they really cared.

"You're mad over them not giving you chocolate?" Haruhi asked, walking over to the three. "That's silly."

"But you don't understand, Haruhi! I've been craving chocolate since I woke up!" Aki said. "And, yeah, I got some, but I've been wanting the chocolate _they're_ supposed to give me."

"Why don't you just go eat some of the chocolate over there?" Hikaru said, motioning to the bowls. He and Kaoru had dropped their pouts by now.

"I want my courtesy chocolate."

"But it's the same thing, isn't it?" Haruhi said. "Chocolate is chocolate."

"No. Courtesy chocolate...it's...well..." She frowned, trying to come up with the right way to say what she wanted to. "It's mine, I guess. It's for only me."

"That's sappy," Kaoru said.

"Shut up!"

"I hate to break this up, but it's almost time," Kyoya said, standing next to Aki. The first years all jumped, not having noticed him before.

_He could have given us a warning or something before scaring us_, Aki thought while he handed her a tray of sweets. It was like a sample tray, so she was only supposed to go around to the tables and give them samples of the sweets that were at the long table. The down side to that was that she'd constantly have to restock.

Aki went to go to her usual spot, but then Kaoru grabbed her and pulled her along with him and Hikaru.

"What gives?" she said.

"You're with us today. After all, White Day is all about girls," Kaoru said. "Can't leave our only girl out today."

"Um...Haruhi?"

"Um...she's considered a boy, remember?" Hikaru said, doing a bad imitation of her voice.

"Right."

The hosts got into their poses, which was pretty much the same as during Valentine's Day. The only differences were that Aki had replaced Haruhi who now stood next to Hikaru (who had his arm around her shoulders), and the roses were white. Aki glanced around at everyone, then held out her tray a little, wondering if she'd look stupid.

They stood completely still for a moment. Aki's arms started to feel a little heavy. She glanced at Kaoru, wondering if his arm was getting heavy, too.

Finally the door opened and they all said their usual greeting after a shower of rose petals fell down on the girls. Aki saw their faces brighten as they all stepped inside, and she could hear the usual murmurs about this person being cute and that person looking very handsome. She even heard a few along the lines of, "They even have Aki-chan with them!"

She felt Hikaru and Kaoru shift out of their poses so she finally put down her arms. While the hosts started moving to their sections, Aki stayed where she was and offered some of the sample sweets. Within a minute her whole tray was cleared out, so she had to refill it.

"Aki-chan!" Tamaki called in a sing-song voice, waving her over. She walked over and glanced at the girls. They all had small, decorative boxes in their hands. The base color was white with a swirling red design wrapping around the box and a cream colored ribbon tied around the box, ending in a bow. A few had already been opened, but others were still tied up.

"Need something?" Aki asked, taking her eyes away from the boxes and looking at Tamaki.

"Sit down," he said with a smile, patting the spot on the couch beside him.

"Uh..."

"It's alright, it's not like you'll get in trouble. C'mon."

She gave him a confused look, but sat down anyway. He took the tray from her and offered the sweets to his clients, throwing in some flirts here and there. Aki was a little ticked because that was her job, but it wasn't anything she'd get too mad over.

The tray was bare by the time Tamaki set it down. He turned his attention to Aki for a moment, telling her she looked adorable in the dress (she didn't get why, though. It looked like a plain sundress), hugging her, telling the clients that she was his daughter (they didn't seem to be fazed by that), and then asking if she got a lot of gifts. He seemed shocked when she said no.

"I only gave chocolates to you guys, the twins and Haruhi, but Haruhi was the only one who gave me anything back," she said with a slight shrug. He gasped as if they'd done something unbelievable and turned to a bag next to him. She didn't know what he was gasping for, though. He hadn't given her anything, either.

"Here, it's for you," he said, giving her a box. It looked like the one the other girls had gotten, although it was smaller.

"Thanks, Senpai." She shook it a little. It didn't exactly sound like chocolate, but then again she didn't even know what chocolate sounded like compared to other things.

That little exchange set his clients off. They were going on about how cute that was, but she didn't see that, either.

"You're so sweet, Tamaki-sama!" one girl said. He smiled and got close to her, bringing his hand under her chin so she was looking into his eyes.

"But not as sweet as you, my princess," he said. His clients were really riled up now.

"See ya, Senpai," Aki muttered, grabbing her tray and going to replace the sweets. She set the box in the middle since she had no pockets to put it in and she didn't want to open it just yet.

The next person that called her over was Kyoya. He also had her sit with him and his group, which she found strange. He got her involved in some conversations and made her show off the dress. She was getting ready to pick up her things and leave when he stopped her.

"Here," he said, placing a box on the tray alongside Tamaki's. They looked identical aside from the color. Instead of a red design, his was purple.

"Thanks," she said before going to refill her tray.

Next was Honey and Mori. She didn't even turn towards their table before Honey grabbed her arm and tugged her over to the table.

"Come and sit with us this time, Aki-chan!" he said, though she didn't think she had much of a choice. He put her in between him and Mori and put her tray on the table.

"Here," Mori said, giving her a slice of apple pie with whipped cream and cinnamon on top. She felt her stomach growl as if it knew what was in front of her.

Aki gobbled the apple pie up in almost no time. She didn't are if Kyoya cared or not anymore. She'd eaten a few times before and he didn't say anything.

Honey giggled at how fast it was gone and Mori gave her another slice. That was gone in a split second, too.

"You must be hungry," one of the boys' clients said. "You're eating it as fast as Honey-senpai eats cakes!" As if on cue, Honey inhaled a whole slice of cake.

"Well, I'm wasn't that hungry, actually," she said, licking a bit of filling from her lips. "But once I saw the pie I couldn't help myself. I think my stomach emptied itself to make room."

"Want some more?" another girl asked, picking up another plate of apple pie. "I'll trade you for that piece of chocolate pie beside you," she added with a nod to a plate of chocolate pie. Aki picked it up and switched plates with her.

_Last one, promise, _she thought, sticking her fork through the pie.

While she ate, she looked at the girls. Well, more specifically, the spots on the table in front of them. They all had boxes just like Tamaki's clients did. Thinking back, so did Kyoya's clients. Those must have been full of their gifts. They were larger than the two she got, though, so she wondered how much they actually got. More than her? Maybe she'd ask someone later on.

"I should go," she said once she'd finished up the pie. "Gotta refill the tray."

"Before you do..." Honey and Mori set two more small boxes on her plate. Honey's color was pink while Mori's was dark blue.

"Thanks."

After refilling the tray she, as she sort of expected to be, was called over by Hikaru and Kaoru. They stole her tray and ate almost half of the sweets, saving the rest for their clients, then made her stand up and show off the dress. The girls seemed to like it, but she just thought it was plain. Pretty, but plain.

She sat next to Hikaru, but somewhat regretted it because whenever the attention was off of him he nudged her with his arm or leg or messed with her hair or pinched her hand. Part of her wanted to sit beside Kaoru, but she thought that he'd probably do the same thing.

At some point Hikaru threw his arm around her shoulders and poked her cheeks, going on about "Puppy" this and "Puppy" that, adding in that she was cute and then Kaoru mentioned it and the twincest got going.

"I'm going," she said. She got up and walked off a little slowly, waiting for them to say "Hold on!" and give her their own boxes like they'd given to their clients. They never did.

Finally she went to Haruhi's table. She hadn't been called over, but she figured that since she'd already hung out with the others she might as well hang out with Haruhi. Haruhi didn't say anything against it, she just gave Aki a smile before re-focusing on her conversation with one of her clients.

Aki liked Haruhi's table. Hers and Kyoya's seemed to be the calmest while Tamaki's and the twins' were not. Honey's and Mori's were in between. Haruhi kept most of the focus on her clients and occasionally talked to Aki, but for the most part they hardly talked to each other. Aki offered some samples to the girls and they cleared out the tray like the others had (Aki helped out some). Sometimes if one of the girls weren't focused on Haruhi, they'd start talking to Aki, but it didn't last for too long because their attention would go back to Haruhi.

It wasn't until Kyoya announced the end of club hours that Aki remembered that she was actually working. She'd gotten lost in a story Haruhi was telling about her middle school during White Day. Somehow the girl had managed to not say anything about herself getting any chocolates. Aki didn't know if she had or hadn't, but she assumed she had. She'd seen a picture of Haruhi when she was in middle school and she was very pretty, pretty enough to catch the attention of a bunch of guys. Not that she wasn't pretty now, it's just that she was very pretty and not as boy-ish looking.

The girls left with their boxes. Aki checked through one of her boxes, the red one, and found a diamond pendant. She literally froze. The chain was silver and at the end of it was a small diamond rose. Whichever way she turned it, the rose sparkled with multiple colors.

_What the hell?! _she thought. This was a lot more than three times what she'd given him! The necklace could probably pay for half of her debt!

The necklace stunned her so much that she didn't notice the twins appear beside her. She jumped and nearly dropped the tray when they called out to her.

"What?" she snapped at them.

"Jeez, calm down, Puppy," Kaoru said. "We're just trying to give you your gifts." At that he and Hikaru placed boxes on the tray, one light blue and the other pale orange.

"These, too," Hikaru said before they put two white chocolate truffles and two mini brownies on the tray. She stared at the sweets for a moment, then frowned at the twins.

"These are from the table!" They just smiled.

"You did say you wanted us to give you chocolates," they said.

"Not like this!" She huffed and shook her head. Well, she was done waiting for them to give her chocolate. This was fine, in a way, even if she wanted something she hadn't already had. "Whatever. Hey, I need to ask you something."

"Go on."

"Did all the girls get this?" she asked, pointing to the necklace. They nodded.

"Yep," Hikaru said. "The boss got the same necklace for everyone just like everyone else got the same gift for their clients."

"The boxes they had are filled with our gifts to them," Kaoru added. That made her feel better, but she was also amazed that Tamaki would buy something so expensive for all those girls. Well...actually...no she wasn't.

"I'm afraid to look in the other boxes if they're going to be like this," she muttered.

"What did you expect?" Hikaru said. "We _are_ rich."

"I _know_, but still. This is just...really expensive." She shook her head.

"How about you look through the other boxes?" Kaoru asked.

"Why?"

"We want to watch."

"You already know what's in them, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course, but we want to see your reactions!"

"I don't think –"

She was cut off by the doors opening and nearly slamming against the walls. Everyone looked over and saw Rei standing in the doorway with her hands pressed against the doors.

"I'm sorry, Miss Noguchi, but club hours are over," Kyoya said. Rei shook her head.

"I'm not here for that!" she said. "I need your guys' help!"


	13. Chapter 12

"Is something wrong?" Haruhi asked. The hosts and Aki had moved the couches so they were in a semi-circle with a single loveseat in front of them. The hosts sat on the couches (all of them back in their uniforms) while Rei sat on the loveseat with Aki, per her request. They all stared at Rei while she finished her cup of instant coffee.

"Well, yes and no," she said, setting down the empty cup. "You guys can help people get together, right?"

"What?" Aki sat up straighter and stared intensely at Rei. She never told her that she had a crush! "You have a...?"

"Really? Who is it?" Tamaki asked, and excited smile on his face. "Is he cute? I bet he is! What's his name? Which class is he in? How long have you liked him for?" Kyoya rolled his eyes.

"It's not for her," he said.

"Right! It's not for me!" Rei said quickly. "It's for Emiko."

"Really? Is it about that guy she's had a crush on?" Aki asked. Emiko still hadn't told her who it was.

"Emiko has a crush?" Haruhi asked.

"Emi-chan's got a crush!" Honey exclaimed. "Cute!"

Rei nodded and smiled. "It is really cute. Emi's so adorable when she talks about him! Oh, anyway, I need your help in getting them together."

"Why are you asking for help?" Hikaru asked. "Shouldn't Emiko be asking us?"

"I tried to get her to, but she doesn't want to ask. She doesn't even want you guys to know."

"So why'd you tell us, then?" Kaoru asked.

"Because if someone doesn't step in then they won't ever, _ever _get together! And I can't try to push them together or else she'll be pissed off at me. Plus, since you guys deal with love-type stuff on a daily basis, I thought you'd be better suited to get them together."

"We'll do it!" Tamaki said. "Of course we will!"

"Do we even have a say in this?" the twins asked. Tamaki ignored them.

"C'mon, guys, it's Emiko," Aki said.

"I think we should help," Haruhi said. "It's not like it's too hard, and we'd be helping to make someone happy."

"It'll be like with Kanako-chan and Tohru-kun!" Honey added. Haruhi frowned a little.

"I hope it won't be like that..."

"The one with the dance?" Aki asked. She remembered Haruhi telling her about it a while ago.

"Yeah."

"Although there won't be a dance this time," Kyoya said. "And we won't make up a dance just for this," he added when Tamaki opened his mouth. "It's better to do something simple instead of something unnecessarily complex."

"Wait, can we just find out about this guy first?" Aki asked. "Who is he?"

"Shouldn't you know?" Hikaru said. She shook her head.

"Emiko never told me."

"Right, her crush!" Rei's eyes sparkled. "Well...he's in Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai's class...dark hair...blue-ish green eyes..."

Mori raised an eyebrow. "Hisao Higa?" he said. Rei grinned and nodded.

"Bingo!"

_Hisao Higa?_ Aki remembered hearing that name before, but she couldn't remember where or when.

"Hisao, huh?" Kyoya muttered, scribbling in his book. She wasn't sure, but she thought she heard a bit of disappointment in his voice. But, that couldn't have been right. The only time Kyoya ever seemed to be disappointed was when things were related to finances.

"Emiko's had a crush on Hisao-senpai for the _longest time_," Rei said, spreading her arms to emphasize how long it had been. "Hisao's noticed her a couple times and he's really nice to her every time, so she's been falling more and more in love with him –"

"Love?" Aki asked, skeptically. "Are you sure it's love?"

"Well...no...but it could be!" Rei shook her head. "Anyway, we need to make Hisao realize this and realize that he love..._likes_ Emi too – 'cause, seriously, who wouldn't? – and the best way to do that is set them up on a romantic date!"

"But do you think just setting them up will make him fall for her?" Hikaru asked.

"No, but it'll show him that Emiko's a wonderful girl and that he should give her a chance. So, can you guys help me set up a date?"

"Of course!" Tamaki said. "Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai can make sure Hisao-senpai goes to the date, you, Aki-chan, and Haruhi-ch...kun can make sure Emiko-chan goes, and the rest of us will make sure everything is perfect!"

Rei grinned. "That's just what I was thinking! But, I want to help make sure everything is perfect. This is for Emiko, so I should oversee the date itself. Aki and Haruhi can handle getting her there. She and Aki are best friends after all, and she does admire Haruhi-kun, so it won't be hard for them to get her to the date. But don't let them know it's a date! It's got to be a secret!"

"Are you sure Emiko would like that?" Aki asked.

"She loves surprises! And a date with Hisao...there's no way she wouldn't like it!"

"Do you think Hisao-senpai will like it?" Haruhi asked. "Maybe Emiko will, but he might not. What if he doesn't even like her at all?"

"Way to put it nicely," Kaoru muttered.

"Well..." Rei fidgeted a bit uncomfortably. "I was...I was kind of counting on him liking her too."

"So you don't even know if he likes her, and yet you're setting them up?" Haruhi said, frowning a bit.

"He will! He's got to!" Rei sighed. "Honey-senpai, Mori-senpai, could you find out if Hisao likes Emiko? Romantically? Even a little bit is okay."

"You got it, Rei-chan!" Honey said. Mori nodded.

"Where were you thinking of setting up this date?" Kyoya asked. Rei was silent, and after a minute he raised an eyebrow. "You didn't think of a venue?"

"Well...no...but, I was thinking of somewhere on a balcony so they could see the stars. A romantic, outdoor setting, you know?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Aki said. "It's still chilly out, especially at night."

"Not really romantic when the people on the date are shivering," Hikaru added.

"Ah! But Hisao could give Emiko his jacket to keep her warm, and if she's still cold he could put his arm around her!"

"Maybe you could keep them inside," Aki said. "Even though that's a good excuse for them to be close, there's no telling if Hisao would actually do that."

"He's done it before. Given his coat to someone, I mean, and once he had an extra jacket and gave it to Emi when she forgot hers."

"Okay...well, I wouldn't want to be shivering on my date. Plus, what if it's raining? You'll have to put them inside anyway."

"We could do it here," Tamaki offered. "The date will be after school, so we'll have time to make everything perfect."

"Oh, I was planning on doing the date on Saturday. Next Saturday!" she added when she saw almost everyone's eye widen. "This Saturday would be too short notice! Plus, there's all next week to convince Hisao. So, can we do it?" She looked between Tamaki and Kyoya. Tamaki nodded and Kyoya shrugged.

"I don't see why not," Kyoya said. "We'll have to discuss details later, though. It's getting quite late, and I know Aki doesn't like to be late."

"Huh?" Aki looked around for a clock and once she found it her eyes widened. "Oh man! I'm so late!" She jumped up and grabbed her bag and jacket. "We're done, right? I can go?"

Kyoya nodded and she took off. She needed to get to the station before the next train left before she could get to it, whenever it left. She could walk if she had to, but her Mary Janes weren't made for walking very long distances. Good thing they weren't high heels, though! That would be awful!

"Where were you?!" Mrs. Nakamura cried. "You were supposed to be back a long time ago!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Aki said, standing in front of the woman with her head bowed low. Her heart had been pounding in her chest ever since she realized that Mrs. Nakamura was in her home. First was from the shock of seeing her sitting in the living room, and second at the fear of realizing that Michiko had put her in charge of waiting for Aki to tell her whatever Michiko couldn't. Or, maybe Mrs. Nakamura insisted that she wait for her instead of Michiko telling her to.

"You could have been kidnapped or raped or killed or...or..or..."

"I'm sorry!"

"And you didn't answer your phone! Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"It was dead. I'm sorry, I forgot to charge it last night."

Mrs. Nakamura was silent. "I want to see your phone."

Aki grabbed her bag and pulled out her phone. Thankfully she wasn't lying or else the woman would have blown up at her.

"Here," she said, flipping it open. The screen was black even when opened.

"Fine, I believe you."

"Mama?" Kasumi walked into the room. Aki looked up at her and mouthed, "Help me!" She loved Mrs. Nakamura, but that woman was scary when she was angry with her kids, and she'd said that she considered Aki one of hers, so she was super scary.

"Kasumi? Sweetheart, how did you get in here?" Mrs. Nakamura asked, turning to her actual daughter. Her expression and voice immediately softened. Kasumi glanced at Aki.

"They've got a spare key," Kasumi said, looking back at her mother. "I heard some yelling. Well..._your_ yelling. Is Aki in trouble?"

"Yes, she is." Her voice went back to the hard, cold tone she'd had with Aki.

"What for?"

"She got here later than she should have." Mrs. Nakamura turned her attention to Aki and her eyes narrowed. Aki bowed her head again.

"Huh? How come?"

"Yes, Aki. _How come?_"

"Well, I had to stay behind at my club. We had a meeting and it took longer than I thought it would."

"What was the meeting about?"

"Mama, do you really need to know what it was about?" Kasumi said with a sigh. "It was a meeting. That's enough, isn't it?"

"I want to make sure it was actually something important."

"It was!" Aki said. "My friend, Rei, was asking for help. We – the host club and I, I mean – are going to help her set up a date."

"Really?!" Kasumi's face lit up. "She's going on a date?"

"Why did she have to ask you guys to help her?" Mrs. Nakamura asked, now with a softer tone, more interested in what Aki had to say now. Aki let out a relieved sigh. Now that she knew what was going on, she'd be a lot calmer. Aki knew this from the hundred of times she'd seen Mrs. Nakamura get mad at her family...and others.

"Rei isn't going on a date, Emiko is. My other friend. Rei is trying to get Emiko set up with her crush. We had to talk to her about it and make sure we wanted to do it," Aki explained. "That's why I was late."

"I see...Well, I was just here to make sure you got home safe since Michiko wasn't here. She said you'd be alright, but I insisted. I wouldn't be able to think straight if I didn't make sure you got home safely."

_Knew it, _Aki thought. "Where is Auntie, anyway?"

"She went on her date with Jin."

"Already?"

"It's kind of early for a date," Kasumi said.

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Nakamura said. "There's never a bad time for a date."

"Except early in the morning," Aki muttered.

"No, some morning dates are pretty nice."

"You mean dates in bed, right? Like when Papa brings you breakfast in bed," Kasumi said.

"Yes, those kinds of dates. Anyway, Aki, Michiko said she wouldn't be back until much later. You're welcome to stay at our house –"

"Mama, Aki's stayed at her house alone lots of times..."

"I know, but still...And I'll bring dinner over to you, okay."

"Mama..."

"It's fine," Aki said quickly. "I don't mind. Your cooking is great, anyway."

Mrs. Nakamura smiled and pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. "Well, I'll see you later then, Aki. And please charge your phone. I don't want to be worried again."

_I don't want you to wait for me again, _Aki thought, but she wouldn't dare say it. She just nodded.

"Are you staying, Kasumi?" Mrs. Nakamura asked. Kasumi nodded.

"I didn't come here just because I heard yelling," she said. "I'm going to stay overnight."

"On such short notice, huh?" Aki asked with a frown. Kasumi gave an apologetic smile.

"Well, then I guess I'll just bring dinner for the both of you." Mrs. Nakamura said. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Mrs. Nakamura!"

"Bye, Mama!"

And with that she was gone.

Aki fell onto her couch and let out a long sigh. "Your mom's so scary."

"You don't have to tell me," Kasumi mumbled. "But at least she's not angry with you anymore. That's a good thing, right?"

"Right."

"Oh, by the way, I didn't really use the key. The door was unlocked."

"Thank you for not telling your mom. She'd be even angrier with me."

"I know. That's why I didn't tell!" She sat down on the armrest and poked Aki's head. "So can I get all the details about this date for Emiko?"

"There isn't too much just yet." Aki sat up and shrugged. "It's going to be for Emiko and this guy Hisao Higa although we don't even know if he likes her or not. It's also going to be done in the club room, and me and Haruhi have to make sure Emiko goes. Kyoya and Rei are going to work out the details."

"Cool! Hey, maybe you should set me up on a date, too," Kasumi said. "Someday."

"Don't worry, I will. Would you like one under the cherry blossoms when they bloom?"

"Sure!"

"Okay, then it's a date! I'll pick you up in April," Aki said with a wink. Kasumi laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Come on, with a boy."

"What, I'm not attractive enough to make you swing the other way?"

"You're straight, too."

"Maybe you're just that cute."

"Don't think so. Not to make any girl go gay for me! Oh, but you, Aki-chi! So beautiful! I'm sure any girl would go gay for you!"

"I don't think so."

"It's true! Oh...oh no! I think I'm coming on to you, Aki-chi! Your beauty is too much! I can't help myself!" Kasumi threw her arms around Aki's shoulders and tried to kiss her cheek while Aki leaned away. "One kiss, I beg of you!"

"Cut it out, Kasu! Please, oh please, before your cuteness starts to pull me under it's spell!" Aki said in an overly dramatic way. "The cute! It's too much!"

They laughed and Kasumi pushed herself away from Aki. "But, really, it'd be cool if you could set me up on a date," Kasumi said.

"I'll set you up with Nobuo."

"Aki..."

"I'll go and tell him you want to go on a date!"

"Aki, no!"


	14. Chapter 13

Monday

"So how's the planning been going?" Aki asked. She and Rei were sitting at the fountain, eating their lunches.

"Planning?"

"With Kyoya-senpai, duh."

"Oh, right! It's going pretty good. Me and Kyoya-senpai and Tamaki-senpai spent Saturday together, picking out the food, working out some music deals, and other stuff. Hikaru and Kaoru joined later on that day. I think we've pretty much finished all the planning, or at least most of it."

"And have you heard anything from Honey and Mori?"

"No, not yet. I'm going to the club today, so I'll be sure to ask them. I hope they have good news."

"I'm sure they'll have some news. Y'know, I saw them this morning with some guy squished between them," Aki muttered, thinking back to when she had arrived at school. Mori and Honey were in the courtyard with a tall dark-haired boy between them. She could only guess that he was Hisao.

"Hey, Rei-chan," Aki said, nudging Rei's foot. She looked up from her food.

"Mhm?"

"I feel like I should know who Hisao is, but I can't remember. Is he some important person's son or brother or something?"

"You know Keiji Higa, right? The guy that handled the music for the Valentine's Day dance."

"Ohhh!" Now she remembered who Hisao was: Keiji's older brother. He looked a lot like Keiji, so how come she hadn't noticed before? He was like a taller, slightly older Keiji without the glasses and with shorter, spiked up hair.

"Yeah, 'ohhh'," Rei said. "Hisao's Keiji's brother."

"Yeah, I know that now." Speaking of Keiji, she hadn't seen him in a while. One reason could be that she wasn't purposefully keeping a lookout for him. Yeah, that was pretty much the main reason. But then, she could have at least seen him in the halls or courtyard or something, and she never did.

Rei and Aki finished their food, talking more about the cherry blossoms than the date. They hadn't bloomed yet, but soon enough they would.

"And not only is April when the cherry blossoms bloom, but it's also spring break!" Rei said. "I can't wait!"

"Me neither," Aki agreed, nodding. "I'm ready to take a nice, long break from school."

"I hear ya." Rei elbowed Aki and got up. "Come on, we'd better go. The bell is going to ring soon."

Aki nodded again and stood up. They made their way back to the school to put their dishes and trays back in the cafeteria.

"Did you ask Emi yet?" Rei said once the trays and all were put away.

"Ask her what?"

"To hang out! Duh!"

"Oh, right. Well if I had thenyou would have heard me since you were around me and Emiko all day. Duh."

"Right...well, hurry up and ask!"

"Calm down. The date isn't until Saturday, and it's only Monday. You should be worrying more about Hisao than Emiko."

"Yeah, I guess I should...Hey, so since we're talking about dates, how did your aunt's date go?"

"Hm? Oh, it was fine. Auntie was in a great mood when she got back home. She smelled like chocolate and ramen and she had flowers in her hand. Apparently they went to a sweets store that was having a big chocolate thing going on since it was White Day and Jin bought her a lot of chocolate, and after that they went walking around a shopping center and they bought each other flowers and Jin made fun of people. Then they went to some fancy restaurant, but they'd been late for their reservation so they couldn't go and Auntie just took him to a local ramen shop instead."

"That sounds cute!" Rei said.

"Yeah, she sounded like she had a real good time, too," Aki said, a smile on her face. She sort of like Jin and Michiko together. They were pretty cute. It just felt weird for some reason, those two being together. She didn't know why, but she was pretty sure it had something to do with Jin. Maybe because he felt like the older brother she never wanted, and brothers and aunts going out was weird.

They headed back to class, Rei leaving to go sit with Emiko and Aki leaving to go sit with Hikaru, although today was one of the days where he didn't really pay attention to her.

The rest of the school day was uneventful. All she did was take a couple notes, doodle a little during the more boring classes, and keep her eyes on the clock. Finally the bell rang. Aki got up and grabbed her bag, then pushed the twins away when they tried grabbing her.

"I'm walking with Haruhi today," she said. They shrugged and left with a, "Suit yourself."

Aki waited by Haruhi's desk until she'd packed up everything. She didn't speak until she was sure they were out of an earshot of anyone. "Rei's a little impatient for us to ask Emiko to hang out."

"It's only Monday, there's still enough time," Haruhi said. "But we should ask her soon in case something else comes up."

"Yeah. Can we do it tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Great! Okay, now that that's out of the way, how about we talk about other stuff?"

"Like...?"

"Anything. I don't talk to you much, so anything's fine. How about what you did yesterday? I can probably pick something out of there to talk about."

Haruhi nodded. She started talking about her day yesterday while they walked to the club room, and Aki picked up on the food Haruhi had cooked. They started talking enthusiastically about food and how this thing tasted amazing and that thing needs a certain something before it can be considered edible and "Oh my gosh, you haven't tried such and such yet?" and "Did you know there's a sale on this over there?". By the time they had reached the club room Aki was flipping out over the fact that Haruhi had never had fancy tuna.

"You should come over to my house some time," Aki said. "I'll be sure to make you some."

"You know how to make it?"

"No, but it can't be hard. It's just fish. I could make sushi out of it. Probably."

"Maybe I'll take you up on that offer," Haruhi said. Aki grinned, then was pulled to the side by Kyoya so he could tell her what the snacks were for the day.

The club started soon after. Aki did her usual thing, serving snacks and drinks. She passed by Kyoya's table a couple times and when Rei sat over there she could sometimes hear them talking about the date, things like what kind of music did she want and was there a certain type of food or drink she wanted them to have during one of the courses of the meal.

Towards the end of the day when things were winding down and some girls were already leaving to go home or to cram school, she glanced around the room and saw Rei huddled together with Honey and Mori.

"You think the date will work?" she asked to Tamaki and Kyoya.

"I'm sure it will!" Tamaki said enthusiastically. Kyoya just flipped through his notebook.

"Tamaki-senpai!" a girl called from the doorway. She waved him over and he happily jumped out of his seat and hurried over to her.

"You didn't say anything," Aki said to Kyoya. He was silent for a moment.

"You wouldn't like my answer," he said.

"What? Are you saying you want the date to be a failure?"

Kyoya smirked slightly and snapped his notebook shut. "Now I never said _that_. I didn't even say I wanted anything. You're just putting words into my mouth."

"Then what do you mean by 'you wouldn't like my answer?'" she asked in a bad imitation of his voice.

"Is that what I sound like?"

"Kyoya...I want a straight answer. Do you or don't you?"

"Well, for how much it's costing I hope it goes well, but...I'd rather it were different."

Aki groaned. "What does that _mean_?"

"I can't give you the straight answer."

"Why not?"

"Because it would let out a secret that I'm not supposed to tell anyone."

"Kyoya! I need to talk to you!" Rei said, walking over to him.

"Of course. If you'll excuse me, Aki," he said before stepping to the side with Rei.

Aki frowned and turned to walk to the snack room to put the tray and dishes away. Hikaru and Kaoru started walking beside her, all of them silent. No one spoke up until they were in front of the room and she turned around to face them.

"Well?" she said. They raised an eyebrow each.

"Well what?" they asked.

"Don't you have anything to say?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You just look like you want to say something."

They glanced at each other. "Well..." Hikaru started.

"We were wondering about what you and Kyoya were talking about," Kaoru continued.

"You looked like you were irritated," Hikaru added while Kaoru nodded.

"It was just about that date," Aki said with a careless wave of her hand. "I asked him if he thought it would work and he said I wouldn't like his answer, then when I asked him to give me a straight answer he said he couldn't because then he'd let out some secret."

Interest sparked in the twins' eyes. They leaned forward as if expecting to hear more, but she shook her head.

"No hint as to what the secret actually is?" Kaoru asked.

"Nope. Other than it's got something to do with the date, probably having to do with either Hisao or Emiko." Aki paused for a second. "You know, when we were first talking about the date back on Friday, he sounded kind of disappointed. Do you think...maybe he likes Emiko?"

The twins frowned and looked at each other, then they all looked over at Kyoya. "Kyoya-senpai?" the boys said. "Liking someone?"

"I guess it's not _impossible_," Hikaru muttered. "But..."

"He's kind of..." Kaoru pursed his lips.

"Kyoya," Aki finished.

"What are you all staring at Kyoya for?" Haruhi asked, walking over to the three.

"We're just wondering if he likes Emiko," Aki answered.

"Or anyone," Hikaru added.

"Huh? Why would you think he likes Emiko?" Haruhi asked, looking at Kyoya.

"He seemed kind of disappointed when we were talking about the date on Friday, and today he made it sound like he didn't want the date to really work out," Aki said. "Well, he really said he wished it were different."

"But Kyoya liking Emiko? Or anyone? It's kind of...I mean...he's –"

"Kyoya?" Kaoru said. "Yeah, that's what we said."

They all stared at Kyoya, then quickly turned away when he looked around. It was weird to think that Kyoya actually liked anyone in a romantic way. He was just so serious and...she didn't know how to put it. He had that sort of air about him, the air where he wasn't the kind of guy to get involved in romantic relationships.

"What's his secret anyway?" Hikaru said, grabbing everyone's attention. They all shrugged. He looked at them, then a smile crept onto his face.

"What are you thinking?" Haruhi asked.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we could have a little competition," he said. "To find out what Kyoya's secret is, I mean."

Aki looked at Haruhi and Kaoru. "I guess that wouldn't be too bad," she said.

"Yeah, things have been getting boring lately, anyway," Kaoru said. "A competition would be fun."

"How about it, Haruhi?" Hikaru asked.

"I don't know. I'd rather not get involved," Haruhi said.

"Oh, c'mon, don't pretend like you don't want to figure out what it is either," the twins said.

"It'll be fun," Aki said, nudging Haruhi. "C'mon, Haruhi." Haruhi sighed.

"Fine, I'll play."

"Great! You can be on Aki's team," Hikaru said.

"When did anyone ever mention teams?"

"Now what should the prize be?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru pursed his lips for a moment.

"Hmm...how about if me and Kaoru find out his secret first then we get to go to your houses?"

"Okay," Aki said with a shrug.

"Aki, hold on..."

"And if you guys win, we'll do your work for you at the club," Kaoru suggested, speaking over Haruhi.

"Sounds good," Aki said. "Right Haruhi?"

"I guess so, but..."

"Alright, then it's a deal," Hikaru said.

"And no cheating and telling him what we're doing," Aki said.

"He wouldn't tell us his secret anyway," Kaoru said.

"No outside help, either, so don't go to Tamaki or Honey or Mori for help."

"We won't ask. They probably don't know anything either."

"Alright."

"So it's a deal?" Hikaru asked. Aki and Haruhi nodded.

"It's a deal," they said.

Tuesday

Aki, Haruhi, Hikaru, and Kaoru peered over the back of the couch they all sat on. They stared at Kyoya's table where he was talking to Emiko.

"They look friendly enough," Aki muttered.

"Ugh, how are we supposed to figure out if he likes her or not?" Hikaru groaned, slumping down on the back of the couch. It was only Tuesday but the whole teams concept had basically dissolved and they were like one big team. "He doesn't even have a lovey-dovey sort of look in his eyes or anywhere on his face."

"This is Kyoya we're talking about," Haruhi said.

"Okay, so he doesn't have any sort of look of admiration on his face," Hikaru said.

"He has a master poker face," Kaoru said.

They watched Kyoya and Emiko for a little longer before ducking their heads down when Kyoya looked over in their direction.

"Um, excuse me." They all glanced at Hikaru, Kaoru, and Haruhi's clients. One of them leaned forward. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, nothing," Hikaru said.

"I think I'm going to go sit with Kyoya," Aki muttered, grabbing her tray. "Maybe it'll be easier actually hearing what he's saying."

"Good luck," Haruhi said as she walked away.

Aki headed to Kyoya's table and sat herself across from Rei. She looked past the look the "what are you doing here?" Kyoya gave her and started up a conversation with one of his other clients about the green tea that coincidentally tasted just like bottled tea she could get in a vending machine, all while keeping an ear focused on Kyoya.

"No, I'm sorry, I haven't been able to make any more picture books lately," he said to another girl. "There might be another one eventually."

_Is he talking about those books Hikaru and Kaoru showed me? _she wondered.

"Aren't you guys going to have a cherry blossom event next month?" Emiko asked. "Maybe you could take pictures there and turn it into a book."

"You should do that!" the other girl said. "That would be so pretty!"

"Ooh, I know someone who is great at photography," another said, cutting off her conversation with Aki.

They continued to talk about the cherry blossom event until their time was up. Aki was slouching in her seat and biting off pieces of a cookie she'd taken from the platter in the middle of one of the two tables.

"I think I'll go now," she said, getting up and grabbing her tray.

"Why were you here in the first place?" Kyoya asked. "It can't have been to talk to Miss Kumagai."

"Sure it was."

"Really? I didn't know you knew any second years aside from myself and Tamaki."

"Oh, sure I do. I know a couple, her included."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You do know that I was lying, right? Miss Kumagai is a third year in class 3-B."

Aki hesitated. "Well, of course I knew that. I was just messing with you."

"I'm sure. What's he first name." Aki was silent. He had a smug smile on his face. "Now what was the real reason you came to sit over here?"

"I like you?" He gave her a skeptical look. "What? A junior can't like her senior?...Okay, so maybe I was here for Rei and Emiko."

"You didn't talk to them."

"You obviously didn't see me and Rei making faces at each other. Anyway, I've got to go. Looks like Honey-senpai's running out of cake."

Wednesday

"Found out anything?" Aki asked Hikaru, turning around and propping her elbows on his desk.

"Nothing," he mumbled. "We tried to be subtle when we asked him yesterday, but I don't know if we were being too subtle or what."

"He's too good," Kaoru said.

"_Or_," Haruhi said. "maybe Kyoya just doesn't like E –"

"SHH!" Aki and the twins said with their fingers to their mouths, drawing attention from the few other people in the room.

"Don't say it so loud, Haruhi," Kaoru muttered. Haruhi sighed.

"Maybe Kyoya doesn't like Emiko," she whispered.

"Then how do we explain that stuff I told you about?" Aki asked.

"I don't know."

"How are we supposed to find out the secret?" Hikaru asked. "If he doesn't like Emiko then we don't have anything else to go on unless we ask about the date all the time."

"How about we ask directly?" Aki suggested.

"You think he'd just tell us like that?" Kaoru said.

"No, but what if we pressure him into it."

Hikaru shook his head. "Kyoya's the one that pressures us, we don't pressure him."

"What if we just wait until the d–" They all gave Haruhi stern looks. She sighed and lowered her voice. "The date. Maybe we'll find out then."

"That's so far away, though," Aki groaned.

"It's only three days away."

"_So far_."

Thursday

Thursday. Only two more days to go until the date. Thankfully Emiko had agreed to hang out with Aki and Haruhi (they'd asked on Tuesday but hadn't gotten an answer until today), so that was taken care of. All that was left as far as she knew was Hisao.

Aki tapped on her tray, looking around the room. She didn't want to sit with the twins and Haruhi today because she'd go right back to watching Kyoya and she was tired of that, and she didn't want to sit with Kyoya because she was tired of him and Emiko wasn't even there today. She hadn't talked to Tamaki or the two seniors much, and she'd been meaning to find out what Honey and Mori found out about Hisao. She'd seen them with him every day in the courtyard before school, and sometimes if she looked out the window during breaks she saw the three of them outside, too.

Aki walked over to Honey and Mori's table and sat next to Mori after setting down an extra cheesecake with strawberry sauce. "Hi."

"Hiya, Aki-chan!" Honey said. She looked around for their clients, but they didn't have any.

"Where'd they go?" she asked.

"The girls? Oh, we don't have any until later," Honey replied. "A lot of them had to go home right away."

"Okay. Makes things easier to talk about then."

"Really? What'd you want to talk about?"

"Hisao. I was wondering if you'd gotten anything yet."

"Oh, yeah! Well, Hisa-chan hasn't said outright if he likes Emiko the way she likes him, but he has made hints that he likes her a little. He even said she was cute!"

"That's good."

"We also asked him if he would ever go on a date with her and he said he most likely would."

"Oh." Was it alright to hint at a date with Emiko? Hopefully he wouldn't catch on.

"Don't worry," Honey said, noticing the slightly worried look on Aki's face. "We didn't talk about Emiko all the time. We also asked the same thing about other girls, so he shouldn't suspect a thing!" Mori nodded. "So did you and Haru-chan get Emiko to hang out on Saturday?"

"Yep. She just said yes today."

"Great! So everything's ready!"

"Guess so. Let's just hope nothing comes up between them and they can't come."

"I'm sure they'll be able to make it." Honey paused looked back at Mori. "Takashi? You're quieter than usual."

_This isn't usual_? Aki wondered.

"I'm just thinking," Mori said. "I have a funny feeling...like something's going to happen on Saturday."

"Something bad or good?" Aki asked. He paused, looking at the table before raising his eyes to look at her.

"Good, I think."

"Well if it's good then it's okay, right?"

"Yeah."

Friday

"It's finally Friday," Aki sighed. She leaned forward but immediately leaned back when she felt a tug on her hair. "Ouch! Hikaru, I told you to get your pencil out of my hair."

"Get you hair out of my pencil," he said.

"It's your fault."

"It's your fault."

"Get it out."

"You get it out."

"Hikaru..."

"Aki..."

She looked back at him and narrowed her eyes. "Come on. It's almost the end of the day and I don't want to be walking around with your pencil hanging out of my hair."

"I told you not to let me play with your hair."

"You never said anything! And I already told you not to play with my hair."

"Ahem." Mr. Watanabe cleared his throat rather loudly, grabbing their attention. "Is there a problem, Miss Fukuda? Mister Hitachiin?" Everyone looked back at them.

"No sir," Aki said.

"No problem at all," Hikaru said. Mr. Watanabe gave them a look before turning back to the board.

"It's your fault," Hikaru mumbled, starting to remove his pencil from Aki's hair.

"It's your fault," she said.

"You were the one that raised your voice."

"You were the one that made me raise my voice."

"I didn't make you do anything."

"Hurry up and get it out before you pull out my hair and leave me with a bald spot."

He eventually got the pencil out with five minutes to spare. He fixed the messy clump of hair before patting her head.

"All done," he said in a cheery voice.

Aki ran her hand through her hair to make sure he wasn't lying. "Good. Now stop playing with my hair."

"I'm bored."

"There's five minutes left. You can take five minutes."

"Five minutes is so long."

"Just wait."

He was quiet for a moment. Then he tapped her shoulder and leaned forward.

"Have you found out anything about the secret?" he asked.

"I was kind of talking to Honey and Mori all day yesterday, so no," she said. "You?"

"Nothing. Do you think we should just ask him straight out?"

"Mm...not today. Tomorrow after the date. Maybe he'll tell us after he sees what happens."

"I hope so. I can't think of what his secret could be and it's really frustrating."

"I know."

The bell rang and they both let out relieved sighs. The class got up and said goodbye to Mr. Watanabe, then started packing up their things and grabbing their bags. Aki waited for the twins and Haruhi by the door.

"C'mon, slow pokes," she said. "The sooner we get done with the club the better."

The club passed by faster than usual. Aki spent most of her time with Tamaki since he was the only one she hadn't hung out with that week. He didn't mind and tried to get her included in conversations and made sure he gave her as much attention as he gave the other girls, just not in the same way. She found it funny how he'd switch between overly friendly to overly romantic whenever he'd turn his attention from her to one of his clients.

Finally the club was over. Aki grabbed her bag and left. Now she couldn't wait until the next day finally came so she could see Emiko hopefully get together with Hisao, and so she could hopefully find out Kyoya's secret.

**A/N: Hey! Sorry that this is a boring filler chapter. I originally meant for it to skip to the date after Rei and Aki were through talking, but then this all happened. It feels sort of rushed, especially towards the end...Anyway, next chapter for sure will be the date. Thanks for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing!**


	15. Chapter 14

"How cute!" Emiko gasped, running over to a store window. A mannequin stood there with a dress on. It was white with pink polka dots and had a light pink petticoat under the skirt. The straps wrapped around the back of the mannequin's neck and was tied in a neat bow

"It is kinda cute, I guess," Aki said with a shrug. "Would be cuter on an actual person, though," she added, narrowing her eyes at the mannequin.

"It's really expensive, huh?" Haruhi mumbled. "Five-thousand yen just for this?"

"The dress I'm wearing right now cost six thousand you know, Haruhi-kun," Emiko said. Haruhi and Aki looked at the dress, then looked at each other. It looked like something anyone could find anywhere. It was short, the top of the dress white with short, off-the-shoulder sleeves that puffed out slightly, and a thick brown belt around her waist. The skirt was light blue with a white petticoat under to make it puff out.

"I guess the fabric is expensive?" Haruhi said. Aki shrugged again.

"Very expensive," Emiko said with a nod.

"What time is it?" Aki mumbled to herself. She grabbed Haruhi's arm and pulled back her sleeve to check her watch. "Only three-thirty? Aw..."

"Be patient," Haruhi said.

"Do you think I should get it?" Emiko asked, though she sounded like she was talking more to herself than to the other two. "It's cute, but I have enough dresses as it is...I could probably get it made, anyway...or, make it myself...and I don't want to spend too much money...but it is really cute...Oh!" She turned back to Haruhi and Aki, her cheeks light pink. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go off there. Let's go somewhere else! I'm sure you don't want to spend the day shopping and listening to me go on about clothing."

"No, it's fine," Haruhi said. "I sure don't mind."

"Me neither," Aki said, nodding.

"Whatever you want to do is fine with us."

"Yup!"

"Are you sure?" Emiko asked.

"Yeah. Let's go inside so you can try it on. Heck, you can go ahead and try on everything in the store!" Aki grabbed Emiko's arm and pulled her inside with Haruhi trailing behind them.

"Welcome!" the employees said. The girls waved at them and Aki walked up to one woman who was standing behind the counter. Her name tag read _Bunko_.

"Do you have any more dresses like that pink polka dot one?" she asked, pointing to the dress. The woman nodded and made her way around the counter.

"Follow me," she said.

They walked past racks, shelves, and mannequins all full of expensive clothing. Aki looked around for something she might have liked, but she didn't really see anything. This wasn't her store, apparently.

They arrived at a section near the dressing rooms full of cutesy dresses that looked like what Kasumi would wear. Bunko picked up a dress off the rack like the one on the mannequin and held it in front of Aki.

"Pardon me for saying this, but it doesn't look like your kind of style," she said, looking Aki up and down. She was wearing a baggy gray sweater, baggy jeans, blue sneakers, and a black baseball cap with "idiot" written on it in hiragana. "You look more like a department store kind of girl."

"Yeah, it isn't for me," Aki said, picking at the band-aid on her cheek. (It was just for show. Kasumi said it made her look tough and cool. Mrs. Nakamura told her to stop wasting band-aids) "It's for her," she said, gesturing to Emiko.

"Ooh." Bunko smiled and nodded like everything made a lot more sense. "I see. Well, this dress certainly looks like your kind of style!"

Emiko nodded and glanced at the other dresses around them. "Can I...Can I try this one on?" she asked hesitantly, picking up a short, strapless baby-blue dress with jewels lining the top.

"Whatever you want, Emi. You don't have to ask, you know," Aki said.

"Right."

"Oh, I think this one will be good on you!" Bunko exclaimed, holding up a spaghetti-strap dress with white on the top and lavender on the bottom, the top covered in fake jewels.

"You think so?" Emiko took the dress and held it against herself. "I guess it would look nice..." She trailed off while running her finger over the top, and Aki swore she saw a flicker of disgust on Emiko's face, but it disappeared as soon as it had come. "Maybe I should grab some more things."

"How about some of these?" Bunko asked, gesturing to more bejeweled dresses.

"Maybe something a little less flashy?" Emiko suggested. "How about shirts and skirts?"

"Oh, there are some cute outfits over this way! If you'll just come with me..."

"We'll wait over by the dressing rooms," Haruhi said.

"Yeah, you go on and get as much as you'd like," Aki said. Emiko nodded and followed Bunko while the other two stepped into the hall for the dressing rooms and sat on two chairs. Aki glanced over at the mannequin at the end of the hall. Why was this one out of all of them the only naked one?

"This is a good way to pass the time, huh?" Haruhi said. "I mean, I'm not one for fashion, I guess I'm a 'department store kind of girl' too, but it's not that bad."

"Guess so," Aki said, starting to pick at the band-aid again.

"You're not one for fashion either, huh?"

"No, that's not it. I like fashion. My kind of fashion, usually, which isn't this. I'm a department store girl, I guess. And this stuff is cute, I just wouldn't wear it."

"Don't like dresses and skirts?"

"I do, sometimes. That sometimes being when it's warm out and all my good pants are dirty or someone guilts me into wearing one. Or it's for a special occasion. It's not that I don't like 'em, see, I just like pants better. I feel less restricted. Also, skirts and dresses don't usually have pockets, so I have nowhere to put my things."

"You could carry a bag around with you," Haruhi said, eying the small bag that hung from Aki's hip. "Like that one."

"All I take is my phone and wallet, really," Aki said. "I could just stuff that all in my pockets. Oh, that reminds me, maybe we can stop by a purse store or something. I think I saw this bag that attaches to your thigh..."

"Why not just get a regular purse?"

"They're a hassle. At least with something wrapped around my waist I don't have to worry about putting it on the back of my chair when I sit down and then I forget it or someone steals it."

"I see..."

"We're here!" Aki and Haruhi turned to find Bunko walking towards them with a woman and a man behind her and Emiko behind them. All the employees had stacks of clothing in their arms.

"That's...a lot..." Haruhi muttered.

"Here, Miss Arai," Bunko said. She pulled back a red curtain and let Emiko go inside before she and the other two went in, put the clothes down, and stepped back outside.

"Make sure you show us!" the woman, Gina, said.

"I will," Emiko replied.

They all waited. The women glanced at Aki and Haruhi, then turned to each other and started whispering. Aki caught some things like, "He's cute, don't you think? In a girlish sort of way..." and "Maybe we should get her to try on something?" and "Is he a boyfriend of one of them?" and "That's sweet that he'd come here with them, huh?"

Finally Emiko came out wearing the pink polka-dot dress. The employees cooed over her, having her turn this way and that. Aki and Haruhi gave her thumbs-ups.

"Do you really think it looks good?" Emiko asked her friends.

"For sure," Aki said while Haruhi nodded. "It looks very good."

"Try on something else!" the man, Ryuu, said excitedly. Emiko nodded and left to change. When she came back she was in the baby-blue dress.

"Cute!" the employees said.

Emiko kept trying on different outfits for...well, Aki couldn't tell how long. She started getting tired around the tenth outfit or so, but she could still stand it. She'd gone on so many shopping trips with Kasumi and Michiko that she was sort of used to this by now.

It seemed like forever had gone by until Emiko was finally done trying things on and decided to go pay for some of the clothes, including the first and second dress.

"Hey, Haruhi, what time is it?" Aki asked while they waited for Emiko. Haruhi glanced at her watch.

"Four-thirty."

"Really? It feels like it was so much longer!"

Haruhi shrugged. "That's what my watch says. Want to see?"

"No, no, I'll take your word for it."

They were quiet for a moment, then Haruhi leaned towards Aki and whispered in her ear, "I think we need to start heading to Ouran at about five. We have to get Emiko there by five-thirty, don't we?"

"Thirty? Rei told me we should get her there by six," Aki whispered, giving Haruhi a confused look. She shook her head.

"Hikaru and Kaoru told me it would be better if we got her there earlier. They want time to do her hair and make-up."

"She looks fine, though," she mumbled, rubbing at the band-aid. The end of it was starting to lose a little of its sticky grip from how much she'd been picking at it while waiting for Emiko.

"They don't know that. They'll probably do something anyway even when they see her."

"Oh, right...so what should we do until then?"

"Maybe we could go to another store? Or...not..." she mumbled when Aki shook her head.

"We don't want her going on another hour-long fashion show."

"Okay...maybe we can get a quick snack to eat and start heading to the school while we eat. It's not that close to here, is it?"

"No, we'll need to go to a nearby train station to get to city near it."

"Okay, so it shouldn't take us too long to get there, and we shouldn't get there too early either."

"Alright. Oh, look, she's done. Let's go."

The two of them walked over to Emiko. She had their back to them and was running her thumb over the jewels of the blue dress.

"Can't wear this as it is...I could switch these for the real things, but...ugh, what a pain..."

"Emiko?" Aki said. Emiko gave a small jolt and turned to them, dropping the dress into its bag.

"Haruhi-kun! Aki-chan!" She suddenly bowed down low. "I'm sorry for making you wait and watch me try on anything. That was so inconsiderate of me. And it took so long! I'm sorry."

"Huh? No, Emiko, it's no problem at all, really," Aki said.

"Yea, it's fine. It was kind of fun, anyway, and you looked great in everything," Haruhi said with a smile. Emiko straightened up, blushing slightly.

"Thanks, Haruhi-kun," she said. Behind the counter, Bunko, Gina, and Ryuu let out a chorus of "aww"s.

"He's so sweet!" Ryuu said.

"So sincere!" Gina added.

"I wish my boyfriend were like him," Bunko sighed.

_Truly the Natural type, _Aki thought as she ushered the girls out of the store. _I wonder if she even heard those three?_

"Okay, ice cream or taiyaki?" she asked once they were outside. "I'm going to get taiyaki."

"I'll get one, too," Haruhi said.

Emiko nodded. "Me too."

"Great!" They walked over to the taiyaki stand and Aki got her money out. "What kind do you guys want?"

"Bean paste, please."

"I'll have sweet potato...Um, Aki-chan, are you sure you don't want me to pay?" Emiko asked.

"No, I've got it," Aki said. "Really, I do," she added when Haruhi opened her mouth to protest. She hesitated, then closed it. Aki turned to the vendor. "One chocolate, one bean paste, and one sweet potato, please."

He nodded and got the different cakes almost immediately, trading them with Aki for her money.

"Alrighty, time to get going," Aki said.

"Huh? Where are we going?" Emiko asked.

"Somewhere special," Haruhi said, exchanging a glance with Aki.

"Just follow us, Emi-chan," Aki said.

"Okay, then."

They walked through the shopping center and nibbled on their taiyaki. Aki got distracted a couple times by seeing an ad for the next volume of a manga she was keeping up with or a new movie that just came out of the theaters. Haruhi was the one that always had to keep her on track and ended up dragging her along. They eventually made it to the end and Aki had nothing appealing to look at, so she had nothing to be distracted by.

"All right, follow me. I know where the train station is," she said.

"Train station?" Emiko muttered.

"Are you sure we should follow you?" Haruhi said. "You aren't going to get distracted?" She looked away when Aki gave her an irritated look.

"I'm sure," she said, sticking her tongue out at Haruhi. "Just come on."

She led them to the train station, making sure she didn't get distracted by anything to prove to Haruhi that she wouldn't get off track. She paid for the tickets and they stood around the tracks, waiting for the train to come by. They would have sat down, but the few seats that were there were occupied by older men and women.

"Where are we going?" Emiko asked again.

"You'll see," Aki said, glancing at the clock. Four fifty.

The train came by a minute later and everyone piled into it. Haruhi's phone rang just as they were getting on. She picked it up and started talking into the phone while Aki and Emiko talked to each other for most of the ride. They went silent when Haruhi closed her phone.

"Well?" Aki said. "Who was that? What were they calling about?"

"Aki-chan, you don't just ask someone that," Emiko said. "You're just like Rei."

"It was my Dad," Haruhi said. "He's not feeling very well, so I have to go and take care of him. Sorry."

"Oh, that's fine," Aki said. Emiko nodded.

"That's sweet that you would go to take care of your father," she said, smiling.

The train stopped a couple minutes later and they all got off. Haruhi bought a ticket to get to the station near where she lived before they all said goodbye.

"I'll be sure to tell you about what happens!" Aki said.

"What's going to happen?" Emiko asked.

"You'll see. See you, Haruhi!"

"Bye, Haruhi-kun!"

"Goodbye!"

Aki and Emiko left the station after that. Emiko followed Aki along her usual path to Ouran and started to slow down when Aki walked past the opened gate.

"This is the surprise?" she asked. "It's..."

"Inside," Aki finished. "C'mon, c'mon, Emi-chan. The surprise is inside."

"Okay..."

Emiko kept walking rather slowly, so Aki linked her arm with Emiko's and pulled her into the courtyard.

"Come on! It'll be dark by the time you even get to the front door."

"I'm sorry, it's just weird being at school after hours with no one else around," Emiko mumbled. "It's so quiet."

"Yeah, I get it. But we'd really better hurry. Like, really. I heard that when it gets really dark out ghosts come and roam the campus, killing any students or teachers they find," she said, running her hand up Emiko's back as if a spider were crawling up it.

"Aki!" Emiko glared at her and Aki couldn't help but laugh. "That's not funny!"

"Sorry, Emi-chan," Aki said, laughs turning into giggles. "I couldn't help myself."

"You're like my dad...Let's just go to wherever it is we're going."

"Okay, okay..."

"And no more talking about ghosts."

"Promise."

Aki pulled her into the school. Thankfully all the lights were on so they didn't have to worry about stumbling around in the dark. They headed up the stairs and down the halls until they finally reached Music Room 3. The quiet was a little unsettling, but not that bad since the lights were still on. Even if they weren't, the sun hadn't gone down yet either, so it wasn't very scary.

When they reached the room Aki was panting slightly. All that time being at Ouran and she ought to have been used to all the stairs, but there she was, tired out from all of them.

"In here?" Emiko asked. She wasn't even out of breath at all.

"Yeah, in here," Aki said.

"Why?"

"You'll see soon, Emiko."

Aki opened up the door and stepped inside. Almost as soon as she did, her face was covered by a towel.

"Emiko-cha–!"

"Wait, this isn't Emiko." The towel lifted up to reveal Hikaru's face. "Yeah, definitely not Emiko."

"Where – oh, there she is."

There was a pause, then the towel was whipped off of Aki and a muffled yelp came from Emiko.

"Emiko-chan!" the twins said. "Come with us!"

"Wait, where are we going?" Emiko asked. The twins didn't respond and dragged her off to one of the dressing rooms.

"Did they even look before they threw the towel over me?" Aki asked to no one in particular while adjusting her hat.

She glanced at the room. The usual loveseats and tables and chairs had all been cleared out. In the middle of the floor was a round table with two chairs set on opposite sides of the table. On the center of the table was a flower arrangement made out of lilies. Behind the piano was a grand piano that she didn't even know the room had (it was a music room, sure, but they never played any music in it so she just assumed the instruments were moved to some other room where they actually did play music). Small scented candles were on the piano and around the table. They were lit and made the room smell like vanilla. The curtains were pulled away from the windows so they had a good view of the sunset, and eventually the night sky.

"They were probably too excited," Kyoya said, catching her attention. He and Tamaki walked over to her. Well, Tamaki ran to her.

"Aki-chan!" he cried. He grabbed her face and his eyes were wide. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"What?...Oh, you mean the band-aid? It's nothing, Tamaki, it's just for show." He didn't seem to believe her, so she peeled it back enough to show him that her cheek was fine. "See? Just for show," she said, putting the band-aid back in place.

"Is that how you dress to go to a date?" Kyoya asked. Tamaki stepped back and they both looked her up and down. Kyoya had on a dark purple dress shirt, with black pants and shiny black dress shoes to match. Tamaki was wearing a black suit, minus the jacket which was around his shoulder.

"It's not like it's my date, so I shouldn't have to dress up, should I?" she said.

"No, but you don't have to look like that, either," Kyoya said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You should wear something nicer than baggy clothing."

"Tch." She glanced at Tamaki. "Why are you so dressed up? You've got a suit and tie and everything."

"I thought I'd look nice for the couple. I'm also playing the piano, so I should dress up for that, too."

"You play the piano?" Aki asked. Tamaki nodded.

"Yep! Rei asked me to play for Emiko and Hisao tonight."

"Oh, where is Hisao?"

"Not here yet," Kyoya said. "Honey and Mori will be bringing him in soon."

"Meanwhile, you need to go change, Aki-chan!" Tamaki said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the dressing room.

"What? Why?"

"You're going to be helping to serve the food, of course," Kyoya said. "You, Hikaru, and Kaoru."

"When was this decided?"

"Today."

"Go and get changed!" Tamaki said, pushing her into the room.

"Oh, Aki, you're finally here," the twins said. They were already wearing white dress shirts, thin brown bow ties, black vests, white waist aprons, black pants, and shiny black dress shoes.

"Aki?" Emiko said. "Hey, what's going on?" She tried to see past the twins, but Kaoru kept her head still.

"Don't move, okay?" he said. "We still need to finish your hair and make-up."

"Your outfit is in the back," Hikaru said to Aki. "Hurry and get dressed, alright?"

"You got it, boss," Aki said. He turned back to Emiko and she headed to the curtained area.

Her outfit was just the same at the twins'. She changed out of her baggy clothing and into the outfit which fit perfectly. She dropped her clothing onto a chair in a pile and set her hat down on top of them.

_My head feels so naked, _she thought, patting down the hair on the top of her head as she walked past the curtains...and into Hikaru.

"What the...? What are you doing waiting behind the curtain?" she asked. He frowned at her.

"Your hair is a mess," he said. "You weren't really going to go out like that, were you?"

"I was smoothing it out." He rolled his eyes.

"What would you do if me and Kaoru didn't take care of you?"

"Look like a mess?"

"Exactly."

She frowned at him. She'd meant for it to be a joke, not a serious question.

"I don't need to look fancy though just to be a waiter," she said.

"I know. The least you could do is brush it." At those words he whipped out a brush and pulled on the scrunchie holding her ponytail.

"Don't you need to be helping Emi?" she asked while he brushed her hair.

"I already finished her make-up. She didn't need that much, anyway, just a touch-up."

"I don't have to wear any, do I?"

"Of course not. You don't need to wear make-up just to be a waitress."

"Hey..."

He finished brushing her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail, then pulled her over to Kaoru and Emiko. "Keep each other company," he said to the girls. "Me and Kaoru have to wait for...well, you know."

"No, I don't know," Emiko said. "Who are you –"

"See you later!" Hikaru and Kaoru said before leaving.

"– talking about..." There was a moment of silence, then she turned to Aki. "What's going on here?"

"I can't say just yet, but you'll find out soon," Aki said, giving her a reassuring smile. "Nice hair, by the way. It's nice and curly."

"Thanks, I guess. But I don't know why they had to do my hair. But, I guess I'll find out soon, huh?"

"Yep."

Emiko sighed and crossed her arms. Then she glanced over at Aki. "Why do you look like a waitress?"

"You'll see! Just stop asking questions." Aki patted her back and smiled. "Don't worry, Emi-chan. You'll like it."

"I hope so if you guys are going through all this trouble to do...whatever you're trying to do." She could tell Emiko was itching to ask her more questions, but she stayed quiet.

They were quiet for a while. Aki had nothing to say, and she was pretty sure if Emiko opened her mouth she was ask another question and get the same answer, and Emiko knew that, so they stayed quiet. That is, until they heard some commotion outside.

"What was that?" Emiko asked, starting for the door.

"I don't know, but I'll go check," Aki said, reaching the door before Emiko could. "You stay here. We wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."

Emiko frowned but turned and went to sit down on one of the chairs. Aki hurried out of the room but only found Kyoya and Tamaki.

"Don't tell me it was you two who were making all that noise," she said.

"It wasn't," Kyoya said. "Hisao just came in and the twins ambushed him."

"Oh. And Honey and Mori are here, too?" He nodded.

"You look cute, Aki-chan!" Tamaki said. "Like a real cafe waitress! I bet you'd look cuter in a dress, though."

"Yeah, well, I like this better."

One of the front doors opened then. The three of them turned to see who it was.

"Oh, Keiji!" Tamaki said. Keiji stepped into the room and looked around, taking his headphones off of his head and leaving them around his neck.

"I-Is this what it usually looks like in here?" he asked.

"Not usually," Kyoya answered. "Just for today."

"Keiji-kun, come with me," Tamaki said, grabbing his classmate's hand. He pulled Keiji to the piano all while talking in a very excited tone.

Aki walked over to Kyoya to ask about why Keiji was there, but he stopped her before she could say anything.

"I haven't seen Haruhi," he said, taking a quick glance around the room before looking back at Aki. "Wasn't she with you two?"

"Yeah, but she had to go home just before we got here."

"Oh. Well, that's alright. We were going to have her be a waiter too, but three is more than enough anyway. We ordered her outfit for nothing, though."

"What are _you_ going to do?"

"Nothing."

"What? So we're all doing something but you aren't?"

"Well, Honey and Mori aren't doing anything, either. All they did was bring Hisao, if you count that as doing something."

"And you?"

"I made sure everything was bought and arranged just how Rei wanted it to be. So, if you count that, I did something. Oh, by the way, try not to get the outfit dirty. We're reusing them for our cherry blossom event."

"Huh? If we're reusing these then you didn't buy Haruhi's outfit for nothing, did you?"

"It was still bought for nothing. She's not going to be dressed as a waiter during the event."

"I'm here!" They looked back at the door. Rei stood there, panting slightly, and with a large bag clutched to her chest. "Sorry, I got distracted along the way. Are Emi and Hisao here yet?"

"Yeah, Emiko's in the dressing room over there," Aki said, pointing to the dressing room.

"Hisao is in the other one," Kyoya said with a nod towards the other room.

"Good. How about Keiji?" Kyoya nodded. "Alright! I think it's time to start, then! I'll go get Emiko, okay? Aki...okay, since you're a waitress, you should go wait by the kitchen. And Hikaru and Kaoru, too. Where are they?"

"With Hisao," Aki said.

"Oh, okay, I'll get them first, then get Emiko."

"I can take your bag for you," Kyoya said, holding his hand out for her bag.

"Oh, no, that's alright!" she said in a somewhat rushed way. "It's okay, I'll just leave it here." She tossed it to the side and a loud _thump _was heard. Whatever was in there sounded heavy.

"What does she have in there?" Aki asked while Rei hurried to go get the twins. She looked at Kyoya. "You want to find out?"

"It's rude to go through people's things, so no."

"But you are curious, aren't you?"

"It could just be clothes."

"It sounded like books."

"Friends shouldn't go through each others' things, should they?"

"No, but you aren't her friend so if you went through it..." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay, okay, just saying. I'll just go stand by the kitchen...wait, we have a kitchen?"

"Yes. It's over in the corner."

"Oh...Okay, I'll go stand over there, then..." she said, waking towards the door near the corner of the room while wondering why she hadn't noticed it before.

Hikaru and Kaoru came out shortly with the other four behind them. They hurried over to Aki and stood next to her. Rei ran to the other dressing room to get Emiko while Honey and Mori ushered Hisao over to the table.

"I can't believe you guys set me up on a blind date," Hisao said, shaking his head with a small smile on his face. "Didn't even tell me!"

"We just wanted it to be a surprise," Honey said. "Okay, Hisao, you just wait here. And make sure to be a gentleman!"

"Alright."

Honey and Mori went to stand beside Kyoya. Rei came back with Emiko seconds later and hurried over to the table. She held her arms out towards the table to show it (and Hisao) off and said, "Surprise!"

Emiko paused, looking between Rei, the table, the piano off to the side, and Hisao. "What is this?" she asked.

"It's your date!" Rei said, pulling her over to the table. "A date between you and Hisao-senpai."

Hisao stood looking a bit shocked, but quickly gave her a warm smile and reached over, taking Emiko's hand in his and kissing it. "Hey, Emi-chan."

"Uh, hi," Emiko said, pulling her hand away. Her cheeks were red.

"No one would tell me who I was going to be on this date with, but I'm happy that it's you. I was worried for a second it would be someone I didn't like! Oh, you look really cute, by the way. But, you always look pretty cute."

Emiko's blush got a little darker and she just nodded. Rei grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

"Oh, here," Hisao said, pulling out a chair for her.

"Thanks."

"Aki," Kaoru muttered, nudging her. He handed her two cups of water and she watched him take a plate from a pair of hands poking out from behind the door. Hikaru also had a plate with him. Both plates had various hors d'oevours on them.

"Come on," Hikaru said. He and Kaoru headed to the table with Aki trailing behind them. Hisao noticed them first.

"The Hitachiin brothers are our waiters, huh?" he said, smiling a little. Emiko looked back at them.

"Oh, so that's why..."

"Here's your appetizer," the twins said, putting on smiles. They set down the plates and Aki put down the water.

"Thanks Hikaru, Kaoru, and...um...?" Hisao looked at Aki and a confused look was on his face.

"That's Aki Fukuda," Emiko said.

"Oh. Your friend?"

"Yeah."

"Well, thank you too, Aki."

"No problem," Aki and the twins said before the twins pulled her back to stand by the kitchen.

She looked over and saw Kyoya, Honey, Mori, and Rei watching the two. It felt a little weird. Well, she would feel weird if she were in Emiko's place. Just to have all those people watching you on a date...she wondered if Emiko and Hisao felt awkward.

"So they're being served in courses?" Aki asked Hikaru and Kaoru when they were back in their spots. They nodded.

"Appetizer, soup, salad, main course, dessert, and maybe cheese if they feel up to it," they said. She shook her head. She didn't understand the whole full course meal thing. It seemed like anyone who did that would be full before they even got to the main course! And that was the best part!

They waited. Hisao and Emiko just talked and laughed and ate, but that was good. It would be awkward for everyone if they were quiet. Emiko's blush eventually turned light pink, but that might have been what Hikaru and Kaoru put on her.

"Soup time," Kaoru said when Rei nodded to him. He disappeared into the kitchen, then came back with two bowls of pea soup set on saucers. He gave one to Aki and they both walked to the table while Hikaru stayed behind.

"Ooh, another course," Hisao said. "Awesome, I was starting to get hungry again."

"Here you go," they said, setting down the soup and taking the empty appetizer dishes.

More waiting after that. Aki started wondering where Tamaki and Keiji were. She hadn't seen them for a while. She hadn't even seen them leave.

"Where are Tamaki and Keiji?" she asked Hikaru and Kaoru. They shrugged.

"Haven't seen them," Hikaru said.

"We didn't even know Keiji was here," Kaoru added.

"Why is Keiji here, anyway? To support his brother?" Aki asked.

"No. Well, maybe, but he's really here to play for Hisao and Emiko along with Tamaki," Hikaru said.

"Really? What does he play?"

"The violin."

"Oh." She didn't know that. Well, of course she didn't. She'd only talked to him once.

Hisao and Emiko were finished with their soup pretty quickly, so Hikaru and Kaoru went to give them salads and take the other dishes away. They passed them to whoever was in the kitchen and leaned against the wall with Aki.

More waiting and watching. Aki wanted to leave. She was bored (and getting pretty hungry), and did she really have to stay and watch Emiko and Hisao? It would have been better if they were left alone. It would probably be more romantic. She noticed Emiko looking towards Aki's group or Rei's group every now and then. She probably felt awkward.

Eventually the main course came around: steak (cut in a pretty small portion, but Aki understood why. After the food they had before, how could they finish a whole steak?), cut up potatoes, carrots on the side, and a bread roll. Aki and Hikaru took it to them as well as glasses of soda, then went back to their spot.

It wasn't long after the plates had been set down that Tamaki and Keiji came back from wherever they had been, Keiji now wearing a suit like Tamaki's, although he still had his headphones around his neck and they looked out of place. Hisao looked over and his eyes became glued to them. He watched Tamaki and Keiji walk to the piano. Tamaki turned to Hisao and Emiko, said something (Aki couldn't exactly hear what it was, he spoke kind of quietly), then sat at the piano. Keiji unlocked the case he was carrying with him and pulled out his violin and bow. He set it between his chin and shoulder and waited for Tamaki to start playing.

The tune was a bit slow, but it sounded great and Aki felt a little like she were in some fancy restaurant. Tamaki and Keiji played their instruments well and were able to compliment each other pretty well.

Hisao kept his eyes on Keiji, probably surprised that he was there. He and Emiko went quiet and just listened to them play.

There was some point early on when the twins decided to start dancing with Aki. It was fun, even if they were moving slowly, and a nice distraction from the boring wait. There was even one time when Hikaru and Kaoru started dancing with each other and tried to pull their twincest act on Aki in which Hikaru dipped Kaoru down low, getting close to his face while Kaoru blushed and looked away, but she just turned away from them.

Tamaki and Keiji were just about to move on to their third song when Hisao got up. "Excuse me, but I need to talk to my brother," he said. Keiji looked confused.

"Did I do something?" he asked. Hisao got up and mumbled something, grabbing Keiji's arm and pulling him off to the side.

Silence was in the room aside from Keiji and Hisao's whispers. Rei ran to Emiko and started talking to her enthusiastically, taking her attention away from Hisao and Keiji. Emiko smiled and nodded a lot, glancing back at the two every now and then.

"Think everything's alright?" Hikaru asked, pulling Aki back up from a dip. She and Kaoru shrugged.

"Maybe it's just family issues," Kaoru said.

Hisao and Keiji ended their conversation soon and went back to the table. Hisao sat down and Keiji put his violin back in place.

"Everything alright?" Rei asked. Keiji just nodded.

"Yeah, we're fine," Hisao said. "Sorry about that. Just some things needed to be sorted out."

Keiji and Tamaki returned to playing and Hisao kept talking to Emiko. The twins got Aki to dance again and eventually Honey, Mori, and Rei went over to join them. Kyoya stood off to the side, looking between them and the others.

"Aki, what happened?" Rei asked after gasping when she finally saw the band-aid.

"Nothing," Aki said. "This is just for show."

"For show?"

"Yeah. Kasumi said it made me look tough and cool."

"You like that kind of look, huh?"

"Who's Kasumi?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked.

"My best friend," Aki replied.

"We've never seen her."

"She doesn't go to Ouran."

"Well, you don't talk about her."

"Yes I do. All the time. Right, Rei?"

"Right!"

"Even if I don't, it's not like you guys ask me about any of my friends from my old school or anything," she said. They frowned and looked at each other., probably exchanging some sort of telepathic message.

"Oh, dessert time!" Rei said when she noticed that Hisao and Emiko were already done with their food.

"Actually, I'm full," Emiko said. "Really full."

"Oh, you need to go home then," Rei said. "Okay, come on, let's get your stuff."

"She has to go home right now?" Hisao asked.

"Maybe not right now, but soon. She gets tired when she'd really full. Really tired."

"No I don't," Emiko said. Rei rolled her eyes.

"I've seen you pass out at the dinner table before."

"Rei!" Hisao pursed his lips, probably in an attempt to keep from smiling.

"I'll get your stuff."

"I guess we'll head home too, right Keiji?" Hisao said, standing. Keiji nodded and put away his violin. "Well, Emiko, I'm glad I got to go on this date with you."

"I'm glad, too! Um...Maybe...Maybe we could go on another one?" Emiko said hopefully.

Hisao hesitated. "Oh, er...Actually...I don't think it would be a good idea."

Everyone froze and stared at them. Emiko's smile fell.

"S-Sorry?"

"Hisao!" Keiji exclaimed. Hisao ignored him.

"Sorry, Emiko, but I'm not the guy for you. I think you should see someone else. It's not that I don't like you, I just don't like you in a romantic way. I'm sorry. This was fun, it really was, I had a great time, but this is the only date we're going to have." He looked back at Keiji. "I'll see you at home, Keiji," he said before walking out.

Everyone was still for a moment, glancing at each other. Then Emiko turned and walked into the dressing room. Keiji ran out of the room after Hisao.

"I'm going to go check on Emiko," Tamaki said, getting out of his seat.

"No, I will," Aki said, hurrying to the dressing room. "You just stay here, alright?" she said before opening the door and stepping inside the room.

Rei was hugging Emiko, her head rested on Emiko's. Emiko's face was buried in her hands.

"I'm sorry...I didn't think this would happen," Rei said quietly. "Honey and Mori said he was interested in you. Things were going really well, too."

"Emiko?" Aki said, stepping inside. "Are –" She quickly stopped herself before she said _"Are you alright?" _What did it look like? Emiko had been turned down by her crush. Aki knew how that felt. It was even worse that he'd gone through with the whole date and said it in front of everyone. At least, that's what she thought.

There was a moment of silence until Emiko pulled away from Rei and wiped her eyes. "Sorry, I shouldn't be crying," she said, grabbing her things. "It's not like we were an actual couple. I'm just going to go home."

"I'll go with you," Rei said.

"No, I'll go by myself. I can call Dad."

"Are you sure?" Aki asked. Emiko nodded and walked past her, keeping her head down. Her hair mostly covered her face, but Aki could still see tears.

Rei sighed one Emiko was gone. "This is my fault."

"What?" Aki frowned at her. "No, it's not. It's Hisao's fault. If he didn't like her that way then he shouldn't have stayed."

"But maybe if I'd told him and realized that he didn't like Emiko like that then we wouldn't have had to go through all the trouble of setting this up and Emiko wouldn't be crying. Ugh, and she must be so embarrassed! That happened in front of almost the whole host club and Keiji!"

"That's Hisao's fault. He shouldn't have told her that in front of everyone. And if he knew he didn't like her from the beginning when he knew he was going on a date with her, he should have left from the start."

"I still feel bad." Rei let out a long sigh. "I'm going home, too. I'll see you later."

"See you."

Rei left the room. Aki headed to the back and got changed into her own clothes, a little slower than she should have been, then returned the outfit to Kyoya. She left the room and went into the now dark hallways. The only light came from the moonlight streaming in through the windows, but it only helped a little.

_Who the hell turned off the lights? _she wondered. She grumbled under her breath and adjusted her hat, then began walking down the hall. It was quiet, just like before when she was with Emiko, but now it felt eerie. She shrugged off the feeling and kept going.

She wasn't sure, but after a while she thought she could hear someone else walking around. She stopped and looked around, but didn't see anyone. She kept on walking, thinking it was nothing, but eventually she could clearly hear someone walking around. She just couldn't tell if they were in front of her or behind her.

_What if it's a ghost? _she wondered. Then she shook her head and pushed the thought out of her mind. No way there would be ghosts. She'd just said there were to scare Emiko earlier. She hadn't even heard any ghost stories about the school.

She kept on going, but the footsteps were still there and they were getting closer. She started picking up speed and they started to go faster as well. Her heart started to beat a little faster. She didn't usually believe in ghosts, and she never got scared when someone told her a ghost story or showed her a movie about ghosts (okay, so that part was only a little bit fake), so why should she be scared now? She didn't even think there were ghosts at this school. Not any malicious ghosts, anyway.

A hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder. She jumped and her breath got caught in her throat. She hadn't realized that she had started to slow down while she was thinking and whoever it was had caught up to her.

"S-Sorry!" the person said, quickly taking back their hand. "I-I'm sorry! I didn-n't mean t-t-to scare you!"

"Keiji?" Aki asked. She looked back and squinted up at him. Yeah, it was Keiji. Even in the dim light she could see that his cheeks were red and he looked like a guilty child.

"Oh, Miss F-Fukuda."

"You don't have to call me 'miss', Senpai."

"S-Sorry."

She looked behind him. No Hisao. Hadn't he gone after his brother?

"Where's your brother?"

"I don't know...prob-probably at home."

"Didn't you just go after him?"

"Yes, but he left so qu-quickly that I couldn-n't catch up to him. I just finished looking ar-r-round the school for h-him. I-I mean...he would have le-l-left by now, I'm sure, but I g-gues I just had this h-h-hope that he would still be here."

"Oh." They fell into an awkward silence for a moment. "Well, uh, do you want to walk out of here with me?"

"Okay."

They started walking down the hall again. Aki glanced up at Keiji from time to time. He fidgeted with the case in his hands and the cord to his head phones, keeping his head down the whole time. A few times they caught each others' eye and he quickly looked away.

"You seem nervous," Aki pointed out. He jumped. "Whoa, calm down."

"S-Sorry," he said with an apologetic smile.

_What a timid guy, _she thought.

"I am nervous," he admitted. "I do-don't walk or talk with a l-lot of people very of-often."

"You're nervous just by walking beside me?"

"Yes. I sometimes get nerv-vous even by walking in f-front or behind people."

"R-Really?" Maybe he had social anxiety or something? Although that wasn't how she really imagined it being like.

Keiji nodded and twirled the cord between his fingers, then spoke up after a moment of silence. "Are-Aren't you going to talk about that date?"

"Huh? Well, no, not really."

"Oh? Okay, then..."

"Why? Did you want to talk about it?" He was quiet, so she got quiet, too. They turned a corner and started to walk down one of the staircases.

"Um, you play the violin pretty well," she said. He blushed and looked at her, eyes widening slightly.

"You think so?" he asked.

"Yeah. You look so surprised, Senpai. What, it's not like no one's ever told you that before...is it?"

"No, n-no I've been told I pl-play well bef-fore. It's just...It's always nice to receive a com-compliment." He had a small smile on his face.

_He looks cute with a smile on, _she thought.

"Um...Is something wrong?" Keiji asked, his smile fading to a nervous expression. Aki's eyebrows raised.

"What?"

"You-You're staring at me."

"Really? Oh, no, nothing wrong! I was just thinking that you look good with a smile."

"Oh...Thank you." He was blushing again.

Another silence. She didn't know what else to talk about. More violin stuff? Music? It felt awkward not talking.

"It's my f-fault, you know," Keiji said after a moment. Aki glanced at him. "For how the date ended."

"You're fault? Why? If anything, that was your brother's fault. I don't see how it could be yours."

"It is."

"Senpai, you had nothing to do with –"

"That's not true," he said, sounding very serious. Now he had a sad look. "I-I-I'm the reason Hisao r-rejected E-E-Em-Emi-mik...Emiko."

"Why would you be the reason?"

"Bec-cause I...I r-really l-l-like her," he said, blush back on his cheeks, only this time it was very red. "A lot."

"Oh, seriously? Well, if your brother knew that then he should have left since the beginning of the date!"

"He didn't kn-know," Keiji muttered. "Th-That I liked E-E-Emiko, I mean."

"If he didn't know then how did he find out?"

"W-Well, I told him earlier this w-week that I was pr-p-prefor-forming at a date for a guy and the girl that I real-really liked, s-so that's probably how he f-f-found out in the first place. Then when he pulled me to th-the side, he asked me if Emiko was the o-one I was talking ab-bout. I tried to tell him no, but h-he's my big broth-ther, he knows when I'm lying, so I said yes. But I t-told him not to end the date!"

"So he ended it so you'd have a chance?"

"Yes, that's what I thin-nk. I told him not t-to, though. I knew E-Emiko had a big cr-cr-crush on him, even bef-fore O-O-Ootori-sama or Rei t-told me."

"Kyoya told you?"

He nodded. "A long ti-time ago. Anyway, I told him not to. I did-didn't want Emik-ko's feel-lings to get hurt."

"And he didn't listen. Still, it's not your fault." Keiji gave her a skeptical look. "Okay, so maybe you had a little part in it, but he's the one that rejected her, not you."

"He only did it bec-cause of me."

"It's mostly his fault."

Keiji sighed and stopped talking. Aki frowned but didn't say anything else. They kept walking in silence all the way out of the school and past the gate.

"Bye," Aki said to Keiji as she turned to head to the train station.

"Goodbye."

"And, Keiji-senpai?" Aki turned back to Keiji. He paused, then looked back at her. "You're not the one that made Emiko upset. It's not your fault entirely, so just don't beat yourself up about it." He nodded and turned to walk away. "Oh, and when you see your brother, you'd better talk to him about this, alright?" He nodded again and they both walked their separate ways.


	16. Chapter 15

"What are you doing here?" Aki frowned at Jin. He sat on her couch, currently playing one of her games. She'd nearly had a small heart attack when she'd seen him, expecting him to be Michiko.

"You don't sound happy to see me," he said.

"I was kind of expecting Auntie to be here."

"She is, she's just in the bathroom." He exclaimed something in Korean as the character in the game fell off the tower, and she thought it might have been something along the lines of "Dammit, Vincent!"

"Why are you here?...Wait, you guys didn't do anything dirty, did you?"

"Of course not! That only happens at my place, and let me tell you –"

"No no no! That's gross!"

"Jin!" Michiko yelled. "What are you telling her?"

"Nothing!" Jin sang. "Anyway, I'm just kidding, you know. We've only gone on two dates so far, and neither of us are the type to, you know, do the do, after only two dates."

"At least get married first."

"What? Are you the type who would save herself for the one?"

"Yeah! You make it sound so weird. What's so weird about that?"

"I just didn't think you believed in that kind of thing with how you are."

"You'd better pay attention to the game before you step onto a black hole."

"What? Oh, no!"

Aki sat on the other couch and watched him play. She'd just gotten back home after spending the day with Kasumi and Nobuo, and she was just taking a break from them for a little while before heading to a nearby ramen shop, Mama Ramen, for dinner.

"So Michi told me about what you did yesterday," Jin said after celebrating over reaching the top of the tower. "It sucks how the date ended."

"Why's Auntie telling you about my business?"

He didn't seem to hear her. "You know, that happened to me once. Back when I was still living in Korea. I was sixteen at the time –"

"Are you already getting a head start on your boring grandfather stories?" Aki said. He frowned.

"It's not boring."

"Really?"

"It's like what happened with your friend's date last night, except I put in all the effort to make it good and I didn't have any help. We went to a fancy restaurant and she went through with the whole thing, but she didn't like me, she only stayed to get a free meal. She even told me that at the end, and she left me with the bill. It was so high I ended up having to work for the restaurant!"

"Why did you let it get that high?"

"I didn't know. I was love struck, so I wasn't paying attention. Whatever she wanted she could have."

"Was it really love?"

"Well...I thought it was."

"So that was that, huh?"

"Not really, no. I kind of went off on her after school. Just yelling and stuff. Then she ran off crying and ended up getting a lot of the popular kids at school mad at me. Thankfully I had other guys she'd done the same thing with stay by my side so I didn't become an outcast."

"Huh. So maybe I should get Emiko to yell at Hisao."

"Maybe, if that would make her feel better. Maybe you could also get her and that kid...Keiji, right? You could try and set them up."

"Why would I do that? Emiko probably doesn't even like Keiji. She liked his brother."

"Yeah, but maybe he could help her get over what happened?"

"Or you just want them to be set up."

"Hey, that's what I would want if I were him."

"Well this isn't about what you or Keiji want or would want. This is about Emiko."

"I'm just saying."

"Then just stop saying."

"Saying what?" Michiko appeared around the corner, shaking her hands to get any left over drops of water off.

"I was telling Tomi-chan what I'd do if I were her."

"About what?"

"That girl Emiko."

"He said he'd set her up with Keiji," Aki said, rolling her eyes.

"And get her to yell at the other guy," Jin added. "Higa, right?"

"It's Hisao. His _last_ name is Higa."

"Well, yelling at Hisao is probably good, that's what I'd do, but I don't think you should try and get her and Keiji together," Michiko said. "That's not what I would want."

"Yeah. I wouldn't want that either. And don't you think it would be weird?" Aki asked.

"Weird how?" Jin asked.

"Well, what if you were almost going out with a girl you liked, and then she said she didn't like you, and then you went out with her sister? Wouldn't that be weird?"

"Like if I turned out to not like you at all and then you went out with Daiki," Michiko said.

"Firstly, I'm not into guys," Jin said. "Secondly, Daiki's married. Thirdly, that won't happen because I know you like me."

"Oh really?"

"Yep."

"How do you know?"

"I can see it in your eyes."

"That's so stupid."

Aki cleared her throat, drawing their attention. "Back to my question, please?"

"Right, right. Well...I guess it would be weird, if I went out with her right after. But if some time had passed, then no, not really."

"Yeah, if some time passed, I think I would be okay, too," Michiko said. "Hey, Hitomi –"

"Aki."

"_Hitomi_." Michiko raised her eyebrows as if daring Aki to try correcting her again. When Aki didn't say anything, she went on. "What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you were with Kasumi and Nobuo."

"I was. I just came back for a quick break before heading over to Mama Ramen."

"Oh, okay. So, you _didn't _come back just because you love your aunt and you wanted to see her..."

Aki rolled her eyes but leaned over to give Michiko a hug. "Of _course _I love you."

"I love you too!" Jin exclaimed.

"She was talking to me, Jin," Aki said.

"What, I can't express my feelings?" Jin pressed pause on the game and hurried over to hug both Michiko and Aki, pushing them back a little when he did. "Love you both!"

"I don't love you," Aki said.

"You're so mean, Tomi-chan."

"_Aki_."

"So much love," Michiko muttered. "It's suffocating...Literally!" she exclaimed when they didn't get the hint.

"Sorry," Aki and Jin said, letting her go.

Jin returned to the game. Aki and Michiko watched him, yelling out when he did something wrong or to watch out for a bad block. Sometimes they would get into small arguments with each other about how he should go about moving up the tower, and while they did that he just went his own way.

"You know, I don't need all this help," he said, slightly irritated. His hair was messed up from all the times he's ran it through his hair while they tried telling him what to do. "Hey, Hitomi, don't you have somewhere to be? That somewhere being Mama Ramen?"

"Oh, what, are you trying to kick me out so you and Auntie can start 'doing the do'?" Aki asked.

"Doing the...?" It took Michiko a second to realize what she meant. When she did she gasped and glared at Jin, hitting his arm. "Jin-ho!"

"I was just joking with her, Michiko," Jin said. "She knows it's a joke."

"Why would you say something like that?"

"It was a joke."

"Even still!"

"Auntie, calm down," Aki said, placing a hand on Michiko's arm. "It was a joke, I know it was. You don't need to be mad at Jin. Really. Now, I'm going to go and you are going to not stay mad at him."

"No promises."

"No worries! I know just what'll make you love me again!" Jin said, grinning at her.

"I never did say I loved you."

"Aw, Michiko! That's so mean! You're breaking my heart!" he whined while clutching at his chest. "I'll have to go out with Daiki now!" Michiko rolled her eyes.

Aki got up and started heading to the door. "Bye!" she called.

"Bye, Tomi-chan!" Michiko said.

"See you!" Jin called.

Aki stepped outside and closed the door. She let out a small sigh, leaning against the door. Those two were a handful. Of course, she wouldn't have it any other way.

She stood there for a moment, just waiting. The neighborhood was mostly quiet aside from a few singing birds and some little kids running around. It was a nice day.

"Hey! Aki-chan!" Aki glanced to the side. Nobuo ran along the side walk to her house, one arm around his duffel bag and another holding down his cap. He stopped in front of her and bent over to catch his breath.

"Told you not to run with that bag," Aki said.

"But I never listen."

"Obviously."

He straightened up and looked around. "Kasumi isn't here?"

"No. How about your boyfriend?"

"He's not coming. I mean, I'll meet him in the back so he can get his stuff, but he can't stay. Family stuff, you know. And..." He glanced around, then leaned forward and lowered his voice. "To be honest, I'm kind of glad he can't."

"Going through a rough patch in the relationship?"

"Juro's got bad trust issues. And he doesn't like either of you."

"Mm."

"I've been trying to tell him I'm not interested in you or Kasumi, but he's not having it."

"Why don't you just spend a little less time with us and more time with him?"

"But I love you guys!"

"So? That doesn't mean you have to hang out with us all the time. That's probably why he's jealous."

"He's clingy, too."

"So are you." Aki frowned and narrowed her eyes, leaning toward Nobuo to get a better look at him. "Nobuo. Do you not like Juro anymore?"

"No, that's not it! I still like him...just a little less. But, I don't want to stop liking him. Juro's a good guy. I just...don't know."

"Alright, I think we need to have a talk. Come over later on, okay?"

"Okay..."

They were quiet for a moment and stood in their spots. Aki stuffed her hands into her pockets and kicked a pebble while Nobuo rummaged through his bag.

"Kasumi's not here," he said after a while.

"I see that."

"Should we wait for her or go and get her?"

"She'll come when she comes."

They waited a little longer. Then a little longer. Finally they saw Kasumi running up the street, her purse held tight in her hand.

"Sorry, sorry!" she called. "I had to help out Mama, but I'm here now! You weren't waiting long, were you?"

"Yeah," Nobuo said.

"No," Aki said, pushing him slightly. "We weren't waiting that long."

"It was long."

"Don't listen to him."

Kasumi shook her head. "Come on, let's go. I've been starving for the longest time."

"I _told _you to get some octopus tentacles," Nobuo said. Kasumi made a face.

"That's so gross," she said.

"They are so not gross," Aki said. "They taste amazing."

"Like chicken," Nobuo added. "The slippery, slimy texture is a bonus, too."

"Oh, and the way it slides down your throat–"

"Quit it!" Kasumi snapped. "I would like to _keep _my appetite, thanks!" Aki and Nobuo snickered but quickly stopped when Kasumi glared at them. "I see that smirk of yours, Nobuo."

"Huh? Smirk? No, there's nothing here on _my _face. Aki's, though..."

"No, no, my face is totally smirk-free."

Kasumi rolled her eyes.

The trio continued down the neighborhood and out to the mini shopping center. It wasn't much, the nearby mall made up for what this place lacked and there was another shopping center just a train ride away, but it had a homey feel to it. Most of the stores that were there were family businesses, and pretty much everyone in the neighborhood knew who the owners and their families were. Mama Ramen was one of those stores.

Nobuo bounded up to the small ramen shop when they had gotten close to it. "Mama Ramen, right this way!" he said, opening the door and bowing with a great flourish.

"Why thank you," Kasumi said as she stepped past him. A loud chorus of "Welcome!" was heard as soon as she was inside.

"Oh, I see a customer of yours," Aki said, nodding down the street. A young man was walking towards the shop, glancing to the side every now and then. Nobuo noticed the man and motioned for him to go around to the back of the shop. He nodded and hurried around the shop.

"I'll be there in a minute," he said. "Can I trust my lovely assistant to send any other customers to the back?"

"You can count on me," she said, giving him a thumbs-up.

"Thank you! Love ya!"

"You'd better make sure Juro doesn't hear that."

"Oh, right. I _don't _love you, then."

"There you go."

Aki turned and went inside and was greeted with "Welcome!" and a bunch of noise, not only from the people cooking the food, but from the chatting customers. She noticed a few of Nobuo's customers and told them to go to the back before she sat next to Kasumi at the bar and leaned against her to read the menu.

"I want kitsune ramen," Kasumi said. "How about you? The usual Mama's ramen, I'm guessing."

"Yep."

"Firm noodles?"

"You know it."

"Hi there, girls." They both looked up at the waitress, Izumi Kawaguchi. She smiled at them and pushed her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose.

"Hi, Izumi," they said.

"What a surprise to see you here again," she said sarcastically. "Where's my brother?"

"In the back," Aki said.

"As always," Kasumi added. Izumi nodded.

"He'd better get in here soon," she muttered. "There's a delivery order he needs to take care of."

"Hey!" They all looked towards the new voice. Mrs. Kawaguchi walked up to the girls from behind the bar with a large smile on her face. "It's nice to see you two here again!"

"It's Mama Ramen herself!" Aki said.

"Hi, Mrs. Kawaguchi," Kasumi said with a small wave.

Mrs. Kawaguchi smiled at them, then looked around for Nobuo. "Is he...?"

"In the back," Izumi said. Her mother nodded.

"I'm guessing he's here for dinner, not to work, huh?" she said.

"Sorry, Mrs. Kawaguchi," Kasumi said, offering an apologetic smile. "He's ours for now."

"Of course," Izumi sighed. "He's either yours or Juro's."

"Oh, that's alright. Your father can go ahead and deliver the noodles," Mrs. Kawaguchi said. "Hey! Ryouta! I need you to make that run to Liu's house!"

"Where's Nobuo?" Mr. Kawaguchi called.

"He's in the back, and he'll be with his friends today."

"Kasumi and Aki?"

"Exactly."

"Alright, I got it. Shou! Is the order still packed and ready to go?"

"Yes, Papa!"

"I wish I worked in a family business like this," Aki said. Izumi shook her head.

"No, you don't," she said.

"No one's asking you to stay, Zuzu," Mrs. Kawaguchi said. "If you don't like it then that's your fault. Oh, and here." She gave Izumi two bowls of katsudon. "Take those to table three." Izumi nodded and left. "Okay, girls, your orders...?"

"Kitsune ramen, please," Kasumi said.

"Mama's ramen," Aki said.

"Firm noodles?" Mrs. Kawaguchi asked.

"Yes please."

"And Nobuo will just get tonkotsu," she said, shrugging. "Okay, your food will be ready in a bit."

"Thanks, Mrs. Kawaguchi!" Kasumi and Aki said.

Aki sighed. "I really do want to work in a place like this some day," she muttered.

"Then why don't you just ask to work here?" Kasumi asked. "Nobuo said they'll be needing more help during the summer since, you know, it'll be summer vacation and all."

"I would, but my school doesn't allow students to have jobs."

"What about the one you have now?"

"I don't think that counts. I'm not getting paid, anyway, so it feels more like forced volunteer service."

"Right. Well, you can still get a job, can't you? I mean, they don't _have _to know."

Aki froze, then stared at Kasumi, frowning and trying to see if there was something wrong with her. "Aren't you the one who's supposed to say I shouldn't get a job? You're the moral one."

Kasumi shrugged. "Well, you'd do it anyway. And I think that's a stupid rule. Although you don't even need the money, so..."

"Well, I need to do something," Aki said quickly, trying to turn the conversation away from money. "Hey, we could get jobs together. You have been saying you've been wanting to babysit for a long time, right?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if I'll get enough jobs during summer break."

"Did I hear someone say babysitting?" Nobuo slid into the seat beside Kasumi and nudged her. "You know, Mom and Dad would like someone to babysit the little ones. We need someone reliable to watch them while everyone's over here."

"What, your current babysitter isn't enough?" Aki asked.

"She's leaving," Kasumi said.

"Oh."

"So you should try babysitting for us," Nobuo said. "We pay pretty well."

"Okay. But only if Aki gets a job here."

"You're thinking of getting a job here?"

"What's this I hear about jobs?" Mrs. Kawaguchi appeared in front of them. "Well?" she said when they were quiet.

"Kasumi wants to babysit for us," Nobuo said. "And Aki wants to work here."

"Really? Well, both spots are open!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not supposed to get a job," Aki said. "School rules."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. What would they do, expel you for doing work? Isn't that what all kids should do anyway?"

"Maybe they can't work because it's a rich school, so they don't think they need to work?" Nobuo suggested. His mom thought for a moment, then she smiled.

"Then you can just work for free!"

Aki glared at Nobuo. "What?" he said. "Your parents pay you just about as much as you'd get here, probably even more."

"Sure, but it would be nice to get payed at my first real job," she grumbled.

"Your parents pay you, so calm down," he said.

"Can I really babysit?" Kasumi asked Mrs. Kawaguchi. She nodded.

"Of course. We're going to need a new babysitter anyway, as I'm sure you know."

"Hey, who's cooking our food?" Aki asked.

"Oh! Right! My bad!" Mrs. Kawaguchi hurried back to the noodles and frantically made she they weren't ruined.

"Hey, wait, I didn't order," Nobuo said, frowning.

"She's already making you tonkotsu," Kasumi said.

"Oh. Thanks, Mom!"

"No problem, sweetie!"

"You really don't have any problem with your mom just calling you 'sweetie' in public?" Aki asked with a small chuckle.

"No."

"You're the only one who would," Kasumi mumbled. "In this little trio, anyway."

"But...you really don't think it's embarrassing?" They shook their heads. "Really?"

"Really," they said.

Aki frowned. She hated it when Michiko or her mom or her grandmother did that. It was so embarrassing. And then when they started grooming her in public...ugh.

"Here you are, kids," Mrs. Kawaguchi said, placing the bowls down in front of Aki, Kasumi, and Nobuo.

"Thank you," they all said.

"You're welcome."

Aki grabbed her chopsticks and started eating, loudly slurping up the noodles. Nobuo and Kasumi did the same with theirs, although Nobuo slurped a little too fast every now and then and some soup droplets splashed onto the counter, himself, and Kasumi (who complained each time it happened). Aki was finished in a matter of minutes, but she was still pretty hungry so she got another bowl. The second one she finished by the time Nobuo was done with his, and they both ended up waiting for Kasumi.

"You're so slow," Nobuo said. She stuck her tongue out.

"I'm savoring the flavor."

Aki rested her chin on her hand and played with her chopsticks. "Is there anything else we can do tonight?" she asked. "Or are we just going to leave once slow poke here is finished."

"I'll probably help out here until it's time to close," Nobuo said.

"I've got a test to study for," Kasumi said. "Shouldn't you study, too, Aki-chi?"

"I guess," Aki mumbled. "But I don't want to."

"Well, you'd better. You've got to keep your grades up!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Kasumi paused, then smiled and lightly pushed Aki. "You're tired, huh?"

"Just a little."

"If you're tired, you shouldn't be asking to hang out after dinner," Nobuo said. "Go to sleep."

"Right here? If you say so."

"What? No! We don't need anyone falling asleep here."

"Although it's better than a drunk falling asleep here," Kasumi said. "At least she can get herself home. And she doesn't smell as bad as a drunk."

"I'm not sure about that..."

"Excuse you?" Aki said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Are you implying that I smell like I pissed on myself?"

"Language, Aki-chan, language," Nobuo said.

"Some people are trying to eat here!" Kasumi added. "Like me."

"It's your fault, Kasumi," Aki said.

"What? Why?"

"You brought up drunks smelling like p –" She hesitated when Kasumi gave her a look. "Like they went to the bathroom on themselves...Hey, at least I only said that. I could have said they, ya know, threw up their kitsune ramen all over themselves."

"Aki!"

Aki smiled innocently and stood out of her seat. "Well, I think I'm just going to go home, if you guys are busy. I am pretty tired anyway."

"And I don't want to carry you home if you do fall asleep here," Nobuo said. "You're heavy."

"It's all the noodles," Kasumi and Aki said. Aki handed Nobuo the money to pay for her food.

"See you," she said as she walked away. "By, Mrs. Kawaguchi."

"Bye, Aki-chan!" Mrs. Kawaguchi called.

"Bye!" the rest of the Kawaguchis said. Izumi rubbed Aki's head as she passed.

"Bye, Izumi," she said, fixing her hair and hat. She left the shop and walked up the street, heading home to rest up for the next day

**A/N: Hey! So, you may have noticed that there's a cover for this story (I think? It doesn't show up for me unless I preview it). The cover was made by me, as said in the description. It's actually bigger and includes Aki in the Ouran uniform. Here's the link to the full picture ( fs70/f/2014/099/b/6/aki_by_ Sorry, I tried to insert the actual link into the work _link_ so it wouldn't take up too much space, but it's not working so there you go). Oh, and the kanji on Aki's shirt means "goddess", if anyone was wondering. Also, here's a fun fact that my teacher told me: Slurping noodles loudly is a pretty good thing in Japan. It means that they're good. If you don't make any slurping noises while eating then it means that you might not like them all that much.  
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**Thanks for reading!**


	17. Chapter 16

"Yell at him?"

Aki nodded. "Go on and yell at him."

"I don't know," Emiko said, biting her lip. "Isn't yelling a bit much?"

"Or just talk to him with an angry tone." Aki shrugged. "I think you should talk to him either way, tell him how you feel. Oh, and get the point across that what he did was embarrassing and he should have said what he did in private."

"I think talking to him is a good idea," Rei said.

"See? Rei agrees with me."

Emiko shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I don't know...maybe...but someone has to come with me."

"Rei can," Aki said immediately.

"What? I mean, not like I don't want to, but why didn't you say yourself?" Rei asked.

"Because you _are _her best friend who she's known for a long time, so you'd be better support."

"We can go at lunch," Emiko said. "He'll probably be at the third years' cafeteria."

"Alright, if you're sure," Rei said.

"You're treating this like we had been seriously dating," Emiko muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you're kind of sensitive, so..."

"I am not!"

"See?"

Aki laughed a little, but quickly stopped when Emiko frowned at her.

"Okay, so you'll go and yell at him, right?" Aki said.

"I'm not going to yell, I'm just going to talk to him," Emiko said.

"Yelling is talking."

"I'm not going to yell at him," she repeated in a firmer tone.

"Okay, okay. Well, tell me how it goes afterward."

Emiko nodded, then shooed Aki back to her seat as the bell rang. Aki plopped down in her seat and was immediately poked by Hikaru.

"What?" she said, glancing back at him.

"You don't have to be so rude," he muttered.

"May I help you?"

"That's better."

"Seriously, what do you want?"

"I want you to tell me more about yourself," he said. "More personal things."

"Why do you care? Anyway, class is going to start so I shouldn't be talking to you."

He rolled his eyes. "Mr. Watanabe won't pay that much attention. Plus I doubt you'll pay attention. Next is math, and you don't like math."

"How do you know?"

"Observation."

"Sure. Anyway, no, I'm not going to tell you about myself. Not only because it's class time, but I don't feel like it."

"Aw, come on, Puppy."

"Why do you care?"

"I'm bored."

"Bored enough to ask me about my personal life?"

"Exactly."

"How about you busy yourself by paying attention to the lesson."

"_Boring_."

"Oh well."

Hikaru continued to bug her but she kept her mouth shut and ignored him. Eventually Haruhi told him to leave her alone, so Hikaru stopped bothering Aki and every now and then he would bug Haruhi, but he soon stopped and focused on the lesson.

After another hour or so the bell rang for lunch. Aki picked her head up off of her desk and yawned. She'd nearly fallen asleep.

She stood up and stretched until she heard a small, satisfying _pop _come from her back, then headed to the cafeteria. Today she had sushi rolls and a bowl of noodles along with a slice of cheesecake for dessert.

Soon after Aki had sat down at an empty table, Hikaru and Kaoru sat down on either side of her. Their lunches were the same as Aki's and they both had chocolate cake.

"Hey, Aki," they said.

"Hi," she mumbled through a mouthful of noodles. They were quiet for a moment. "Can I help you?"

"We want to go to your house," they said.

"Really? Well, it's kind of the middle of the school day, so..."

"You know what we mean," Hikaru said, rolling his eyes.

"So, whaddya say?" Kaoru asked. Aki thought for a moment.

"Mm...no."

"Why not?"

"Because I get enough of you two here and during the club. Home is the only place I can go to get away from you guys. It's like a...like a Hitachiin-free sanctuary. And anyway, I don't like you guys enough to want to invite you over."

"Oh, please. You love us!" they said, hugging her and rubbing their cheeks against her own. "Come on, Aki, please?"

"No."

"_Please_?"

"No!"

Hikaru and Kaoru kept on messing with her for most of the lunch period. They wouldn't even go bug Haruhi when she tried to push them onto her. In an attempt to at least provide some entertainment for them so they'd shut up, when they were all finished she grabbed them and left the cafeteria.

"Where are we going?" Kaoru asked.

"The third years' lunch room," Aki said.

"Oh, to watch Emiko talk to Hisao?" Hikaru asked. She stopped and looked at him.

"How do you know about that?"

He shrugged. "Me and Kaoru heard you guys talking."

"Well...yeah, we are going to watch them."

"You should have looked out the window, then," Kaoru said. "They're outside, not in the lunch room."

"What? Where?"

"Come on."

Now they led her outside to the courtyard and into one of the gardens. It wasn't too long before they heard Emiko's voice.

"Hide, hide!" Aki said in a hushed voice when they got close enough to almost see them. "Don't let her see us. This is probably embarrassing enough without any more people."

The twins nodded and the three of them got onto their hands and knees. They crawled around a patch of bushes until they had a clear view.

Emiko and Hisao stood in the middle of a mini-clearing in the garden and Rei and Keiji stood off to the side. Keiji looked incredibly uncomfortable and kept shifting his weight and messing with his headphone cord. Rei had her arms crossed and stared at Hisao with an irritated expression, but she also looked a little uncomfortable. Hisao looked uncomfortable as well as a little shocked, and his eyes darted away from Emiko every now and then. Emiko was very angry, and it sure showed. Just by looking at her Aki could understand why everyone else was uncomfortable. It wasn't that Emiko was scary, it's just that she'd never seen her get angry before.

"I can't _believe _you would go and say that in front of EVERYBODY!" she yelled. Aki and the twins' eyebrows raised. None of them had ever heard her yell. Aki didn't even expect her to yell at all. "So maybe you didn't like me at all, okay, that's fine, but you could have at least told me in private instead of making me look like a fool! Do you know how embarrassed I was after that?"

"I'm sorry," Hisao muttered.

"You should be sorry. But not only to me. You should be sorry to your brother and the host club and Rei for wasting their time! And Rei planned all of this, did you know that? She took her time and planned everything so I would be happy!"

"And what about me, huh?" Hisao retaliated. He sounded a little irritated now. "She never asked me if I wanted to go on this date. This could have been avoided if she'd made sure I actually liked you in a romantic way."

"Don't put this on Rei," Emiko snapped. "And you can't say that. You went through with it! You told me you were glad it was me! Never once during the date did you make any indication that you _didn't_ want to be on a date with me."

"Because I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"Oh, _really_? I suppose that just went out the window after everything was over, huh?"

"No, I...Look, I wasn't going to say anything at first, but then you asked to go on another date and –"

"So? You could have said something else then! You could have said 'We'll see' or 'I'll think about it'."

"Hey, you should be at least a little glad I let you down gently and I didn't say something like 'No, I don't ever want to see you again' or something worse."

"You shouldn't have said anything."

"Yes I should have!"

"Do you know how I was feeling? I was so happy! I couldn't believe that I got to go on a date with the guy I'd been crushing on for a long time, and it seemed like he liked me too! But no, he was just faking."

Hisao sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Emiko, I didn't do it because I don't like you like that..."

"What do you _mean_? You can't say you don't like me one day and then say you like me the next!"

"I never didn't like you in that way. I do! A little." Emiko groaned.

"Then why did you say you didn't?"

"Because there's someone else that –"

"It's my f-fault, ok-kay?" Keiji said, drawing their attention. "It's m-my fault."

Everyone was quiet for a moment. "What do you mean by that?" Rei asked. Keiji stared at his feet and looked like he wanted to disappear right then and there. His cheeks practically glowed red.

"His-sao only said he did-didn't l-like you b-b-because of me. I like you, E-Em-m-miko. He didn't wa-want to hurt me b-by going out with the girl I li-liked, so that's why he s-s-said what he did."

"You see?" Hisao said, turning to Emiko. "This is why."

"Oh, what, so you were trying to play the role of the great big brother, huh?" she said bitterly. "Don't think that makes up for embarrassing me and wasting everyone's time."

"Hey, I didn't even know it was _you _he liked until he showed up and started playing. Remember when I pulled him to the side? That's when I found out."

"Then why didn't you say anything then?"

"He told me not to!"

"So? So what? It would have been better had you done it then than later."

"I d-didn't want him to hur-hurt your feelings," Keiji said.

"Well he did. Either way he did. And he probably would have told me eventually so it would have been better to tell me then instead of dragging it out."

Hikaru tugged on Aki's sleeve. "Bell's going to ring soon," Kaoru said. She nodded and they all made their way far enough away from the bushes where Emiko and the others wouldn't see them, then stood up and walked towards the school.

"Well..." Aki said after a moment. "That was something, huh?"

"We've seen worse," they said, shrugging.

"But it _was _Emiko so it was kind of weird," Hikaru said.

"Yeah."

"Hey, do me a favor and don't tell any of them," Aki said as they headed up the steps.

"We weren't planning on it," Kaoru said.

"Good."

"What, are you going to do something if we do?" Hikaru asked.

"Maybe."

"Like what?"

Aki shrugged. "I don't know. Punch you?" They snickered. "What? I'm sure I could punch you hard enough."

"Sure," Kaoru snickered.

"Want to find out?"

"Maybe some other time, Puppy," Hikaru said, patting her head.

"Cut that out."

They continued to the classroom, the twins continuing to tease Aki until she punched their arms, but even then they laughed it off and kept teasing her. She was thankful when they got inside the room and their attention was taken away by some of their fan girls deciding to chat them up.

"So that's that, huh?"

Emiko nodded. She and Rei had just gotten finished telling Aki what had happened when they went to talk to Hisao. Of course, it was no surprise to her, but she wasn't going to tell them that. She would probably seem weird for sneaking around instead of walking straight up to them, and then if Emiko knew that Hikaru and Kaoru were watching she'd probably be incredibly embarrassed.

Right now they sat at an empty table in the back of Music Room 3. The hosts were hosting and none of them seemed to care that Aki wasn't serving, so she assumed it was alright.

"Are you mad at Keiji, too?" she asked. Emiko sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "I don't really _want_ to be, but at the same time I'm upset with him. But I feel bad for being upset with him."

"It's just he kind of took part in Hisao rejecting you and that's why you're upset," Rei said.

"Yeah..."

"And Hisao?" Aki asked. "You still mad at him?"

"Well, yeah, but like with Keiji, part of me doesn't want to be mad at him. He was trying to be a good brother, but...I don't know. I feel like he didn't take my own feelings into consideration." She huffed and leaned forward, crossing her arms on the table and resting her chin on her arms. "Am I making bad decisions?"

"What? By being upset with people? No." Aki shook her head and let out a small laugh. "I don't think so. You're upset, and it's understandable, in a way."

"It's human nature!" Rei exclaimed, as if she'd remembered something amazing. "Like your grandpa would say. Just think if you went and told him this. 'Granddaughter,'he'd say," she said, putting on an old man's voice.

Emiko and Aki laughed. "Grandfather doesn't sound like that," Emiko laughed. Rei went on.

"'Feeling this way is just part of being human. Do not feel bad about it. Embrace it. Welcome it. Now come, let us meditate.'" Emiko shook her head.

"Your granddad made you meditate?" Aki asked after she'd stopped laughing.

"It was his way of bonding," Emiko said with a shrug. "Once every day when we visit him and grandmother he has a family meditation session."

"It was the weirdest thing ever," Rei said. "I went with them once and it was so quiet, and they looked like they were sleeping. Once I tried to get up and I didn't think anyone heard me, but then her grandpa caught me just as I was pushing myself up. Scared me half to death!"

"You shouldn't have gotten up."

"You should come with us someday, Aki. We can meditate together!"

"I'd rather not," Aki said. "I get fidgety when I have to stay still for too long. You should have seen me when my class went on field trips to temples and the priests made us sit still. I was always the one that got hit because of how much I moved around." Rei started to snicker. "Shut up, Rei."

"Sorry, sorry," Rei said, although she didn't sound entirely sorry.

They were all quiet for a moment until Emiko decided to speak up.

"I still feel bad," she mumbled. "I think I'm going to talk to them tomorrow, to make up for yelling at them today. Well, yelling at Hisao, that is.

"Yeah, I think if you talked to Keiji and made sure he knows it's not his fault, even if he did have a little to do with it, he'll feel better. Didn't you see how guilty he looked?"

"Yeah."

"Plus he probably needs the socialization," Aki added.

"I'll go with you to talk to Keiji!" Rei offered. "I've got a soft spot for him, anyway."

"Really?"

"Yup! He's so cute, like a puppy, don't you think? But so timid and shy. I want to help him out."

"Aki-chaaan!" Honey called. "We need more drinks!"

"We need more snacks," the twins called, holding up their empty plates to prove their point. "And more commoner's coffee!" They lifted up empty cups.

"We need more commoner's coffee over here as well!" Tamaki said.

"We would like some more tea," Kyoya said.

"Got it!" Aki got up and grabbed her platter. "Well, time to go back to work. I'll talk to you guys later."

"Maybe we can come over to your house some time," Rei said hopefully. "Like during spring break."

"Maybe."

Aki retreated into the snack room and started preparing all the different drinks. She grabbed two different cakes and a large box full of cookies, dumping the cookies onto a separate plate. She took the cakes to the twins first, then the cookies to Kyoya, and once his tea was done she got that to his table, too. Then she got all the instant coffee ready and served it first to Honey and Mori's table, then Tamaki's, and finally the twins'.

"Hey." Kaoru grabbed Aki and pulled her to the side along with Hikaru and Haruhi (who had been on her way to refill her table's coffee. She didn't usually ask Aki to do anything and did it herself, and if anything at her table broke then it was added to her debt whereas if anything at anyone else's sections broke it was added to Aki's debt). He and Hikaru glanced at Kyoya, then back at Aki.

"We were just thinking about that secret Kyoya was talking about last week," Hikaru said.

"None of us can figure it out," Kaoru said.

"I'd forgotten all about that," Haruhi said. "So why are you bringing it up now?"

"Well, since we can't figure it out on our own, how about we ask him straight out?" Hikaru suggested.

"Okay," Aki said.

"So you want to ask him?" Kaoru asked. She nodded. "Good! Because you two are going to find out!"

At that Hikaru and Kaoru pushed the girls towards Kyoya's table. They turned to protest, but the twins kept pushing them along until they were practically standing directly in front of Kyoya.

"Good luck!" they said, returning to their couch.

_What the hell? _Aki thought, shooting them a glare.

"Can I help you?" Kyoya asked. The girls looked at each other, then Aki pushed Haruhi forward. Haruhi shot her an annoyed look before turning to Kyoya.

"Senpai, we were just wondering about that secret you told Aki you had last week."

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. "That? You're still thinking about that? I thought you all had given up."

"You knew?" Aki asked.

"Of course. Why else would you have been watching me all the time?"

"Right..."

"So...what is it?" Haruhi asked. "How come you didn't seem to want the date to work out?"

"I didn't say I didn't want it to work out," Kyoya said. "I just didn't want it to go the way I thought it would, which was exactly how it went. I knew that after Hisao saw Keiji he would realize everything and eventually reject Emiko."

"Do you like Emiko?" Aki blurted. She'd been wondering that for a while, and she couldn't help but ask.

Kyoya smiled slightly. "Not in a romantic way, no. I would just rather avoid disappointing outcomes of things."

"That's not the secret, is it?" Haruhi asked.

"No. The secret was that Keiji likes Emiko. He made me promise not to tell anyone when I found out, but I'm sure you already knew about it."

"Right." Aki shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "So, that's it?"

"That's it. I don't know why you all were so worked up about it."

"Well it's not like we knew that that was what it was."

"Is that all?" he asked. Aki and Haruhi glanced at each other, then nodded. "Back to work, then."

The girls walked back to Hikaru and Kaoru. It wasn't what Aki thought it would be, or hoped it would be. She wouldn't deny that part of her hoped his secret was that he liked Emiko, but that was pretty much only because she wanted to be right about it.


	18. Chapter 17

Aki flopped down onto her couch and let out a long sigh. It was spring break and she was already bored. There wasn't much to do around her area aside from going to the mall, but she got tired with that quick enough. She tried to see if she could visit Emiko or Rei, but both of them were going to be out of town. The only thing she had to look forward to was the trip to Tokyo. More specifically, Akihabara. That wasn't for two more days, though.

Her phone buzzed in her hand. She tossed it onto the other couch. It was probably another text from Hikaru and Kaoru. Since spring break had started they'd been texting her even more, trying to get her to go to their house or letting them go to hers. She had to make Kyoya promise not to tell them where she lived before the break started. She didn't want them showing up unannounced.

She tried to entertain herself by playing games, but she'd beaten everything she had. She tried to read, but she'd already read everything and the next issues of her favorite manga either weren't out yet or they were and she hadn't bought them yet. She was waiting for the next issues of her favorite magazines to be published, too.

Aki turned over dropped the remote control after flipping to a random channel. It was playing a variety show. Hopefully it would be funny.

Okay, so it was pretty funny. Aki ended up laughing so much her stomach started to hurt. By the time Michiko walked in through the door she was crying.

"Hello!" Michiko sang. Aki quickly wiped away any tears she had one her face and turned to smile at her aunt.

"Hi, Auntie," she said. Michiko, surprisingly, didn't look like she'd wrestled with an oily pig for hours on end. "You look nice."

"You think? Yeah, well, I didn't do much today. We didn't have that many cars come in, thank goodness. How was your day?"

"Boring. Did you stop by any stores?"

"Oh, yeah. I went to Family Mart but they didn't have much that you'd want. I did get you these, though." She reached into her bag and pulled out a video game magazine and a pack of grape hi-chew, then tossed them to Aki.

"Great." She opened up the hi-chew and offered one to Michiko.

"Oh, no, I'm –"

"You may look nice but you still smell like sweat and grease, and your breath probably isn't too hot, either."

Michiko thought for a moment, then took the candy and popped it into her mouth. "Gonna go take a shower," she said.

"I know."

"Then I'll come back and be bored with you."

"Alright."

Michiko left, a lingering smell of grape mixed with motor oil staying behind.

Aki laid back on the couch. She flipped to a different channel. Soap opera. Another. Anime. Another. Kids shows. Another. Cops shows. She turned back to the variety show. They had started talking about food and were watching a video about spring foods. That made her stomach growl. It was probably saying, _Grr. Feed me!_

She pat her stomach and it was quiet for a moment, but it soon started up again, so she ate one of her candies. That was able to keep it quiet for a while.

Michiko came out of the shower soon after, smelling like jasmine and lavender. Her hair was pulled into a low ponytail and some strands were still dripping wet. Aki scooted over when Michiko sat on the same couch so she didn't get any droplets on her.

"So what's happened so far?" Michiko asked.

"Nothing much," Aki said, shrugging. "They're talking about food now. Oh! You should have been here earlier, Auntie! I was watching this one show and they had Gackt on it!"

"What?! Really?!"

"No, actually. I'm just teasing."

Michiko frowned at her. "That's not cool, Aki. You _know _I love Gackt!"

"I thought it would be funny."

"Was it?"

"...Yeah, kinda." She let out a small laugh when Michiko pushed her.

"You're so mean."

Aki shrugged. Her phone buzzed on the other couch and they both looked at it.

"Oh, that," Aki muttered.

"What do you mean 'oh that'?" Michiko asked. "You forgot about your phone?"

"Sort of, temporarily."

"Pick it up! See who it is!"

"I don't want to."

"Why not?"

"It's probably the Hitachiins." Michiko looked at her like she was crazy. "What?"

"It's the Hitachiins! Why don't you answer it?"

"Because they always bug me."

"Hmph. Well if you won't I will."

"You only like them because of their mom. You don't even know them."

"Well then I'll get to know them." She reached over and picked up Aki's phone, flipping it open. "Well, it's not from the Hitachiins. It's from the phone company."

Aki groaned and rolled her eyes. "I wish they'd stop texting me," she grumbled, deleting the message. She noticed that the twins had stopped texting her a while ago and the most recent ones were from Kasumi (those were just some pictures she took of a cute cat. One of them was Nobuo and Juro hugging said cat), and one was from Tetsuo. His was a picture, too, of him down at some beach in Okinawa with some of his classmates. The caption said, "Don't you wish you were here?"

"Check it out, Auntie," Aki said, showing her the picture.

"I wish I were down in Okinawa," Michiko mumbled. "It must be nice and warm down there."

"I'll take you for your birthday," Aki said.

"Are you joking?"

"Nah. I really will. I'll pay Gackt to hang out with you, too." Michiko pushed her again.

"_K-bomb away!_"

Aki stirred in her sleep. She thought she'd hear someone speaking in English. Must have been her dream...What had she been dreaming about, anyway? Did she even have a dream? Did she dream in English?

She heard some yelling and suddenly someone jumped onto her, making a fake explosion noise. Aki grunted and tried to turn over.

"What the hell...?"

"Get up, Aki!" That was Kasumi's voice. She started to shake Aki. "Come on, get up! Today's the day! We get to go to Tokyo!"

Aki grabbed a pillow and shoved it towards Kasumi. "I could care less right now. Just get off of me, please!"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Kasumi moved off of the bed. Aki sighed and sat up.

"I'm guessing you're the K-bomb, huh?" she asked while rubbing crust out of her eyes.

"Yup. Sorry, I tried to wake you, but you know how you are. Now hurry up. Michiko doesn't want us to be late for the train. Plus she's making omurice!"

Aki perked up and opened her eyes, though she could only open them halfway because the light _burned_.

"Look at your hair," Kasumi said with an exasperated sigh. She walked up to Aki and started finger combing her hair, gently removing any knots and tangles.

"It's common, you know. Bedhead."

"I know that." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, Aki-chi. Start getting ready!"

"I will, I will, just let me wake up."

"Okay. But really. You don't want your breakfast to get cold."

"Yeah, yeah."

Kasumi took out another knot before leaving.

Aki stretched and yawned. She pushed herself out of her bed, scratching her cheek and going to her desk. Her clothes for that day were draped over the back of her desk chair: white tank top, denim jacket, and dark jeans. She grabbed the clothing as well as her favorite red and white cap with an H in the middle and walked to the bathroom to deal with her hygiene. Once she'd showered and brushed her teeth and all, she got dressed. She styled her hair so it would be contained inside her hat, then put her hat on.

"Perfect," she said to her reflection. They winked at each other.

She headed out and into the kitchen. Kasumi and Michiko were seated at the table, already eating. A steaming plate of omurice sat waiting for Aki.

"Good morning!" Michiko said brightly.

"'Morning," Aki said. She was still tired, but thanks to the hot shower she wasn't as tired as she was before.

"Excited to go to Tokyo Aki...habara-chan?" Kasumi grinned while Aki rolled her eyes. Kasumi had recently taking to calling her Akihabara-chan or Akiba-chan since that's where Aki had gotten the name Aki from in the first place.

"Sure," Aki said before taking a bite of her food.

"We get to go to Akihabara with Akihabara-chan!" Michko said. Aki shot her an irritated look and she just stuck her tongue out.

"It's autumn Aki!" she said.

"You say that, but we'll never forget!" Michiko said with a wink. Aki groaned.

They finished up their food and cleaned up, then went to the front door (well, Aki ran to slip on her sneakers, _then _she went to the front door). All of their bags were at the door, each one distinct from the other. Kasumi's was light pink, Aki's dark green, and Michiko's was black. They made sure they had everything before heading out to the car.

Nobuo was waiting for them outside. He tackled Aki with a hug, but thankfully he held them both up.

"Get some good souvenirs," he said, then turned and hugged Kasumi. "Take some good pictures, alright?"

"For sure," Kasumi said. Nobuo turned to Michiko and hugged her as well.

"Don't break into my house," she warned him. He laughed.

"Don't worry, I won't. Promise." He stepped back and proceeded to help them put their bags in the trunk. The girls climbed into the car and drove off. Nobuo stood on the lawn, frantically waving to them. Aki watched him out of the back window, waiting for him to put his arm down and leave.

"He's_still there_," Aki whispered when they were so far that he looked tiny. Kasumi turned to look out the window as well.

"Oh, he really is."

"Get off my lawn!" Michiko yelled out the window, scaring a couple little kids as the car passed. One of them stared after the car before hesitantly stepping off of the grass and onto the sidewalk.

Michiko kept driving all the way to the train station – not the small one that Aki used to get into the city where Ouran was located, but the larger one that had bigger trains like bullet trains. She parked the car and they all hopped out, grabbed their suitcases, and headed inside. Michiko paid for one-way tickets, then they walked up to the platform to wait for their train.

Kasumi looked behind her at the bullet train and sighed. "I want to ride a bullet train someday."

"Maybe one day we'll take you," Michiko said. "We can ride it to go see the rest of Aki's family. You've never met them in person, have you?"

"Other than your mom and dad, no," Kasumi said. "Oh, and your brother. Daichi?"

"Daiki."

"Right."

"Speaking of dad, when is your coming back?" Aki asked. Kasumi thought for a moment.

"Mama said he'll be back for a week next month, then he'll be back during the summer."

"Alright! So the week he's back will be like 'Daddy-only' week, right?"

"Yup."

"What does your dad even look like?" Michiko wondered. She furrowed her brow, trying to think. "He's been gone so long that I can't even remember."

"Here." Kasumi pulled out her phone and brought up a picture of a man with a black hair styled in a crew cut, slightly tanned skin, and dark gray eyes. He was wearing a naval officer's uniform and stood smiling at the camera, showing off pearly white teeth. The corners of his eyes crinkled and if she looked close enough Aki could see slight dimples around the corners of his mouth.

"Oh, that's right!" Michiko exclaimed.

Just then a train pulled into the station right in front of them. Kasumi pocketed her phone and they all stood up. Once the doors opened they and the other passengers stepped on and found their seats. Michiko pulled them into one of the compartments with benches facing each other and tables between each one. Michiko slid into one side while Aki and Kasumi slid into the other.

Kasumi bounced in her seat, obviously excited. She didn't get on trains all that much aside from the small ones that went from town to town or the subways. Aki didn't see how there was much of a difference despite this one being less crowded and hot and much more comfortable and...okay, well she could see _some _difference, but it wasn't all_ that_ different.

They waited for a few more minutes. Then at 11:30 on the dot the train started to move. Michiko grimaced when it really picked up speed and got up to sit with the girls.

"It's moving _backwards_," she complained.

"You chose to sit there," Aki pointed out.

"I didn't know it would be moving that way. I thought I'd get lucky and you guys would be the ones who felt like it was moving backward."

"Oh well. You alright, Kasu? Y'know, being squished against the window and all."

"I don't mind at all," Kasumi said. She was staring out the window, although there wasn't much to see other than buildings flashing by.

Michiko stared out the window for a moment before grimacing again and turning her head away.

"Train-sick?" Aki asked. Michiko nodded, so she patted her back. "There's a bathroom up front if you need to go."

"No, I'm fine for now," Michiko said. "I think."

"How about you go to sleep and we'll wake you up when we get there?"

"Sounds nice." She laid her head on the table and closed her eyes.

"Michiko gets sick from riding on trains?" Kasumi asked.

"Yeah. Fast ones. It's because of the view. Kind of like car sickness, you know? You should have seen her on the bullet train, though. She was in the bathroom the whole time, puking!"

"Shut up," Michiko mumbled. Aki patted her head.

"She would have been fine if she just hadn't looked out the window."

"It's not just that! It was when I went backward!"

"Shh, shh, just get some sleep."

"Stop talking about me and I will."

"Stop talking about her, Kasumi."

"I wasn't!"

They all fell silent and stayed silent until the first stop which only took a few minutes to get to. Aki glanced at the screen flashing the name of the station. Of course, it wasn't theirs, but she was curious. Then she looked away and looked out at the station, watching some people getting on and pointing out a cute guy or two to Kasumi.

"It'll take a while to get there," she said. Kasumi shrugged.

"I figured."

"So...Wanna battle?" Kasumi turned and grinned at her.

"You're on!"

They both reached into their suitcases and pull out their DSs. They started up their Pokemon games and connected with each other, ready to battle.

They battled for most of the train ride while Michiko slept. When Kasumi got bored with Pokemon she decided to take out a romance novel and read it, every now and then swooning and saying that the main male was amazing or she wished she could fall in love like that. Aki continued playing Pokemon by herself, working toward her goal of catching one of every Pokemon in the game. She looked up at the screen at every stop, making sure they didn't go past their stop.

It was an hour or so later when she recognized the most recent station being near where they had to get off. She shook Michiko and nearly pushed her off of the bench.

"I'm up, I'm up!" she growled, waving her hand away. "What is it?"

"Two more," Aki said. Michiko nodded and rested her cheek against her hand, letting out a sigh.

"I was having a nice dream, you know," she said.

"What about?"

"I don't remember...I think I was getting married."

"Who was the groom?"

Michiko shrugged. "Don't remember."

"Maybe it was Jin?"

"Jin-ho?"

"No, Jin Kazama. Yes, Jin-ho."

"Well, Kazama isn't that bad. It could have been him."

"It could have been anyone," Kasumi said. Aki had nearly forgotten that she was even there.

"But she's dating Jin."

Kasumi looked up from her book and frowned at Michiko. "Have you guys ever gone on another date since White Day?"

"Lunch dates, sometimes," Michiko said, shrugging. "But other than that, no. I don't mind anyway."

"Does that mean you don't like him?"

"What? No, I do! I just like small lunch dates better. But I am planning on asking him out on a date soon."

The train stopped. Michiko started to get up, but Aki grabbed her arm. "I said _two _more, not one."

"Oh. Right."

She sat down and waited for the next stop. When it came they stood up and dragged their suitcases behind them as they exited the train. Michiko led the girls through the station and out to the taxis. They stuffed their things in the trunk and hopped into the back of the car (Kasumi complained because she had to sit in the middle). After Michiko told him the name of their hotel, he drove off.

The ride was quiet aside from the click of the taxi driver's walkie-talkie (or was it a radio?) every now and then. It felt pretty awkward to Aki, so she just listened to music on her iPod. Thankfully it took most of the awkwardness away from the ride.

Soon enough they had arrived in front of the hotel. Michiko paid the driver while Kasumi and Aki got the suitcases out. Then they went inside, checked in, and headed up to the rooms.

"Now don't lose these," Michiko said, handing the girls their keys.

"Got it," they said. Aki pocketed her key while Kasumi used hers to unlock the door.

"Just toss your stuff in and get your money, we're going out."

"Can we go to Harajuku?" Kasumi asked.

"What about the Ginza?" Aki suggested.

"Or we can take Akiba-chan to Akihabara," Kasumi said with a giggle. Aki rolled her eyes.

"We're going to Akibahara today," Michiko said. "Just for Aki."

"We should go to Roppongi tonight," Aki suggested with a small smirk.

Michiko snorted. "_I'll _go. You two can stay here." Her smirk disappeared.

They all entered their rooms. Aki tossed her things to the side and jumped onto the large white bed in the middle of the room, letting out a large sigh.

"Nice and soft," she said into the covers.

"Come on, get up," Kasumi said. She walked over to Aki and pulled on her leg. "Get your stuff." Aki shook her head. "Aki!"

"Just one second." She flipped over onto her back. "Yeah, that's nice."

Kasumi walked over to Aki's suitcase and pulled out her bag. She tossed it to the bed and nearly hit Aki.

"Missed!" Aki exclaimed. Kasumi frowned and took out her small purse, then tossed that at Aki. It hit her chest and bounced onto her face. "Okay, you got me that time."

Kasumi grabbed her purse. "Come on. The faster we get there the faster we can get done with it. I want to go to Harajuku!"

"Shouldn't we go some other day? So you can dress up in...I don't know, whatever you're going to dress up in."

"Oh...Yeah, probably."

The door to the bathroom opened, making them both jump. Michiko stood in the doorway, one hand on her hip. "Are you ready?"

"Guess so," Aki said, sitting up. Kasumi nodded.

"Let's go, then."

"I didn't know the bathroom was a Jack-and-Jill," Kasumi muttered as they left the room. Aki shrugged, meaning she didn't know either.

"It's a good way to keep an eye on you two," Michiko said.

"I'm locking the door when we get back," Aki mumbled to Kasumi.

They left the hotel and made their way to the nearest subway. Michiko deemed Aki the navigator and shoved a map in her hands. Aki huffed but aside from that she didn't complain.

They hopped onto one train and rode it for a while until Aki pulled them onto another train, then another. Eventually they made it to Akihabara Station. Aki didn't show it, but she was pretty excited.

Kasumi led the way out of the station this time, then continued on down the street as if she knew exactly where she was going. Michiko and Aki stopped her, then Michiko led the way, heading to the west where the electronics were.

In no time they were all distracted by all the shops and sights. Aki frequently ran to a store and insisted that she look at everything there before she left, even if she wasn't going to buy it. They all bought some games at a few video game stores and Aki brought Kasumi a new iPod to replace her old, broken one. Michiko bought an expensive new camera (Aki had accidentally dropped their old one down the stairs and sent it to camera heaven) and started using it as soon as they left the store, taking a picture of just about everything.

Then they started heading to the anime and manga part of Akihabara. It seemed to take longer to get through there, mostly because of Kasumi. She was always stopping to gape at some display or a cosplayer. Once she took a flier from a girl advertising a nearby maid cafe, but Michiko took it away almost as soon as she got it.

"I don't think this is really for you," she said before Kasumi could protest.

"How about we go to a butler cafe?" Aki suggested.

"Maybe another time."

They continued on. The next time they stopped it was because of Aki who noticed a manga shop. She pulled the other two inside so she could look for the next volume of her favorite manga, or at least find a new one. When she couldn't find the next volume, she started looking through most if not all of the shounen books while Kasumi stuck to shoujo and Michiko looked around the whole store. In the end they all bought some manga.

"Where are we going to eat?" Kasumi asked when her stomach growled. Michiko shrugged.

"I don't know. We'll find some place. But hey, if you're looking for a snack, I think there's a taiyaki stall up ahead."

"You know what sounds good?" Aki said, looking at Kasumi. "Takoyaki." She laughed when Kasumi scrunched up her nose. "Or maybe yakitori. That sound better?"

"A lot better."

"Ooh, but you know what?" They looked over at Michiko. "I heard there's this hidden ramen shop somewhere in Tokyo. You have to make reservations to get in and they only have one thing on the menu. It's pretty expensive." This time Aki's nose scrunched up.

"That doesn't sound like it'd be very good. Just one thing? On the _whole _menu?"

"It looked pretty good," Michiko muttered, more to herself than to the girls.

"How do you know what it looks like?" Kasumi asked.

"Big Boss had a picture. He went to Tokyo once and went to that place. We should go there before we leave."

"I want to go!" Kasumi said. Aki looked at them and shrugged.

"Fine. If you guys are going then I'll go, too."

"Yay!"

"Oh look, there's the taiyaki. You girls wait here, I'll go get it." Michiko headed to the small stand ahead.

"Aki, check it out!" Kasumi exclaimed, pointing at something. Aki followed her finger and saw a maid advertizing a cafe.

"So? We've seen a bunch of maids."

"No, but she's got cat ears and a tail!"

Aki glanced at the maid. She had on a par of black cat ears and when she turned to the side a fake tail waved behind her. Aki had to double take after noticing her face. She wasn't sure from this far away, but...

"Aki? Where are you going?" Kasumi asked. Aki had started walking toward the maid. "Aki!" Kasumi hurried after her.

"Here you go, sir!" the maid said in a cheery tone, handing a man one of her fliers.

Aki now stood right in front of the maid. The maid turned to look at her and her eyes widened.

"Aki?!"

"Rei?!"

**A/N: Here's a mini-glossary for some things you may or may not know (a lot you'll probably know but just in case):**

**Gackt: A Japanese singer-songwriter, actor, author, and musician.**

**Okinawa: A bunch of islands at the very end of Japan. They're right under Kyushu (southernmost island of Japan) and to the eat of Taiwan. From what I've heard it's pretty warm all year round and they've got nice beaches there.**

**Omurice: An omelette made with fried rice.**

**Akihabara: One of the special districts in Tokyo. It's pretty much the electronics center as well as the manga and anime center.**

**Akiba: A nickname for Akihabara.**

**Jin Kazama: I'm sure a lot of people know, but if you don't or you can't remember, Jin Kazama is from the ****_Tekken _****games.**

**Harajuku: One of the special districts of Tokyo. A lot of pleople go there wearing crazy get-up like lolita clothing.**

**Ginza: One of the special districts of Tokyo. It's pretty much a shopping district.**

**Roppongi: One of the special districts of Tokyo. It's got a lot of night clubs.**

**Maid and Butler Cafes: Women/Men that work at these cafes are dressed at maids/butlers. Some of these cafes include the employees dressing up as school girls/boys or even cross-dressing.**


	19. Chapter 18

Aki stared at Rei across the table. She fidgeted in her seat, her eyes darting around the cafe. Kasumi and Michiko sat on either side of Aki, Kasumi looking around at the cafe and Michiko looking between Aki and Rei.

"So, are –"

"Rei, what –"

"Don't tell!"

Aki, Michiko, and Rei blinked, Aki and Michiko's pausing in mid-sentence. Kasumi looked at them.

"What do you mean don't tell?" Aki asked.

"Uh...So, um, what were you going to say?" she said, turning to Michiko.

"I, uh, I was going to ask Tomi if she could introduce us."

"Oh, Auntie, Kasumi, this is Rei Noguchi," Aki said. "Rei, this is my auntie Michiko Fukuda and this is Kasumi Nakamura."

"Oh! Aki talks about you two all the time!" Rei exclaimed.

"So _you're _Rei!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"She talks about you a lot, too," Michiko said. Rei's face lit up.

"So why are you working as a maid?" Aki asked. Her face dimmed.

"Well...Uh, I'm not _really _a maid. I-I mean, yeah, I'm dressed up as one, but I only help advertise. I'm really here to help Kaede – but don't tell anyone! Especially not Emiko! Don't tell her that you saw me at all!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," Aki said, holding up her hands. "Why don't you want me to tell Emiko?"

"Well...No, you can tell her you saw me, but if you do don't mention that you saw me in Akihabara. But, if you do, don't let her know I was in this part. And that I'm working here. Oh, don't tell anyone I'm working at all! School rules, you know?"

Aki narrowed her eyes. "What's wrong, Rei? Just...Just explain everything, alright?"

Rei nodded and was quiet for a moment. "Okay, well, Kaede works here part time after school, and during the break she's supposed to be working during the day, but this week she's going on a trip with her friends and she needed someone to cover for her."

"So why not some other girl?" Michiko asked.

"They don't have another girl. Most of the girls that work her went on trips, too. I said I could do it since I'm not doing anything else important, and it's only for a week. It's fun, too, and the girls here are really nice! Except one, but don't tell anyone I said that. Anyway, don't tell Emiko I was here in this part of Akihabara."

"Why not?"

"Because...she'll find out that I'm, uh, I'm an otaku...and she doesn't like otaku at all."

"Why not?" Kasumi asked.

"Bad experiences with some crazy otaku."

"How would she find out, though?" Aki asked. "Just because you were here? You could just be sorta interested in this stuff."

"Oh, she'll know. It's me. She'll know."

"Will she be that mad at you, though? I mean, she's Emiko. It's not like she'll hate you for being an otaku."

"No, Aki, she really doesn't like otaku. And if she really looks around my room, she'll find out. Remember during her date when I had that big bag? Full of manga. It's still under my bed. She'll know just by looking at me, really."

"Noguchi!" Rei jumped in her seat when a maid grabbed her shoulder. "What are you doing? Get back to work!"

"Y-Yes ma'am! Sorry," she said to Aki, Michiko, and Kasumi. She got up and hurried out of the cafe.

"She's not usually like this," Aki said.

"Didn't think so," Kasumi said.

"I'll go keep her company."

Aki got up and left. She poked Rei's shoulder when she got outside, making her jump.

"Don't scare me like that, Aki," she said, sighing. "I thought I got in trouble again."

"Sorry...So you're really an otaku, huh?"

"Yeah. If you could see all the stuff I have...yeah, you wouldn't doubt it." They stopped talking for a moment while she coaxed two guys into going into the cafe. When they did, she said, "Remember back when you broke the vase and Kyoya had to take you to the nurse?"

"I don't think I'll be able to forget," Aki said, rubbing her arm. "What about it?"

"Well, I at the time I was thinking that everything would play out like in shojo manga. Kyoya would carry you to the nurse's office, really worried because you were very weak and he would realize in that moment that he had feelings for you."

Aki was quiet for a moment, just staring at Rei. Then she laughed, causing Rei to blush. "Really?"

"Don't laugh!"

"Sorry...but really? Kyoya having feelings for me?" Or anyone, really, but she didn't say that. "I can't even imagine him in shoujo anything. At least, not as a leading male. And what would I be doing? Laying weakly in his arms? 'Oh, Kyoya-senpai,'" she said in a weak voice before laughing. Rei stifled a laugh at that.

"I know it's weird, that's just what popped into my head."

"I think you read too much manga."

"Probably."

Silence, for a moment. This time Aki spoke up. "I'm an otaku, too. Not a huge one, but I am one."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep. If you knew me when I was eleven...yeah, you wouldn't doubt it. I still get a lot of manga, but I've pretty much toned down since then. I still have a huge stash."

"If I show you my collection will you show me yours?"

"Sure."

They went quiet again, but this time neither of them tried sparking another conversation. Aki just watched Rei do her job. After a while Kasumi and Michiko left the cafe and Kasumi started chatting up Rei. They both talked to each other enthusiastically and when the topic turned from how cute the other was to romance novels and shoujo manga they seemed to have gotten lost in their own world. That was until the maid from before stepped outside and snapped at Rei to get back to work.

"Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am!" she squeaked. The maid shot dirty looks at the others, and Aki and Michiko glared back at her.

"I don't like her," Michiko mumbled when she had disappeared.

"No one likes her," Rei whispered as if the maid was nearby. "Now you guys need to go before I get in trouble again."

"Right, sorry."

"Bye," they all said.

"Want my number?" Rei asked Kasumi before they left.

"Aki-chi's got it," Kasumi said. "I'll get it from her."

"Alright. See you guys. It was nice meeting you!"

"Nice meeting you, too!" Michiko said. They all said goodbye again, then left.

A week later Aki was back at home. She was currently pinning up a bunch of pictures Michiko had recently printed out, making sure everything was done day by day.

The first day was just Akihabara and all the stuff there. The second day they had gone to Harajuku so Michiko had taken _lots _of photos. Kasumi was in most of them, dressed up in lolita fashion. She took lots of pictures with people in things like visual kei, fairy kei, decora, shironuri, and more. Kasumi was like a kid in a candy store that day, just running around and ogling at everyone she saw. After they had gone to Harajuku they went to Odaiba. There were a considerably less pictures of Odaiba than Harajuku. The next day was more of an off day and they just played around at parks in Ueno, then visited the Ginza, then went to Tokyo Tower. The day after that they had decided to go to Tokyo Disney. That day Kasumi dressed up like Miney Mouse while Aki was Mickey (she'd even worn a binder so her chest was flat and she could play the part better). The next day they had gone to Disney Sea and done the same thing. The last two days were adventuring days, just looking for that ramen place Michiko had talked about. They only found it on the last day, while they spent the day before eating from any stall they could find because Aki insisted. A lot of the pictures from that day were just them eating food.

She finished putting up the last picture and stepped back until the back of her knees bumped into her bed. She stared at the pictures for a moment.

"What a mess," she mumbled, shaking her head and leaving the room. She said that, but she really loved it.

She headed to the kitchen and glanced to the side when she heard a giggle. Michiko and Jin were sitting on the couch in the living room side-by-side with her head on his shoulder and his head on hers. They were looking through the pictures on her camera. Aki wondered how long it took them to actually get to the pictures since when Michiko pulled out the camera Jin freaked out and started going on about how it was the latest model of some brand and all the features it had. Michiko of course knew all of this (she'd freaked out in the same way at the store), but she smiled and nodded and just let him talk.

Aki stepped into the kitchen and got a bottle of water. She still had a while to go before the break was over, but now that she was home she had nothing to do. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she couldn't wait to get back to school. And the club. But she wouldn't ever, _ever _mention that one.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw that Hikaru (and by extension Kaoru) had texted her.

_Hey Puppy, are you back from your trip yet? We're bored! _It said.

She stared at the text for a moment, wondering whether she should reply or not. She didn't usually send anything back, but today she was bored, too. Kasumi was resting at home (probably didn't want to see Aki for a while after living with her for a week), Nobuo had to help out at Mama Ramen (and she knew if she went there she'd just blow off all her money on food), Rei was still up in Tokyo spending time with Kaede, and Emiko was apparently in Cambodia. The only other people she could hang out with were the guys in the host club (well, okay, so she knew some other people, but she didn't really want to hang out with them), but she didn't want to see them in person. Spring break was a break from school and from them. But, she was bored...

Aki took a sip of her water, then pressed the call button and waited while the phone rang.


	20. Chapter 19

Aki sighed. Spring break was over, and now she was back in school. She sort of welcomed it when it was the first day back. She had a routine to stick to now. It felt nice.

What also felt nice was the Host Club, although she'd never tell anyone that. Just working felt pretty good. She knew what to do, where to go, and how to do it. Like now, she was helping the hosts set up for their cherry blossom event. Kyoya had told her what to do, where to go, and how to do everything.

Aki grabbed two chairs by their backs and lifted them up, carrying them over to a round table that already had two seated around it. She was pretty sure she looked like a dork with the way she carried them, but as long as she got the job done it really didn't matter if she looked dumb, did it?

She set down the chairs and placed them perfectly, or what perfect was according to Tamaki, and went back to get more chairs for another table. Haruhi did the same thing that Aki was, although she had to take one chair at a time so she didn't accidentally ruin her expensive kimono.

Haruhi wore a maroon kimono with an orange nagajuban underneath. She also had on hakama that were such a pale blue color they almost looked white. Aki wore the same waiter outfit she'd been wearing for Emiko's date, as did the twins, Kyoya, and Tamaki.

"Aki-chan, Aki-chan!" Honey ran up to Aki and grabbed her hand. He was wearing a kimono too, and his was a pale lavender color with a dark blue nagajuban and light blue haori. Behind him was Mori who was in a dark blue-green kimono, white nagajuban, and dark blue hakama.

"Come help us set up our area!" Honey said.

"Okay, then," Aki said. There were only a few chairs left. Haruhi could handle it.

Aki and Honey took a red blanket and spread it out between them, then set it on the ground and smoothed it out. While they did that Mori got the paper walls (Which Aki was pretty sure they'd used during the traditional kimono day a couple months ago) and set them up. There weren't that much, just four, but that kept the area open which was good for viewing the cherry blossoms, and it still looked good.

After that was set up Honey had Aki get two platters of food such as sushi rolls and supplies to make green tea. They set the saucers down with the food on them and kept the supplies to the side.

_Maybe I should come over here and see if I can get some tea, _Aki thought, glancing at the tea supplies.

Once that was done Kyoya had her help Hikaru and Kaoru set food (most of which had cherry blossoms incorporated in them somehow, and if not cherry blossoms there was something pink in it.) and drinks on the tables while he and Tamaki made sure everything was perfect. In her opinion everything was fine, but every once in a while Tamaki would move a chair a little over to the side or take a plate or cup and move it closer or farther to the edge of the table.

"Are we almost ready?" Aki asked to no one in particular.

"Almost." Hikaru walked over and stood next to Aki to put his things down. He bumped is hip into hers and smiled a little when she bumped hers back into his.

In no time Aki, Hikaru, and Kaoru were all out of food and drinks to set. Right when they were finished Tamaki grabbed them and lined them up with the rest of the club. He gave Aki a small plate with some sort of sweet on it – a mini pie, maybe? – and handed Kaoru a plate topped with a sweet as well and Hikaru got to hold a bottle of some drink. Her mind immediately went to wine, but she was pretty sure that wasn't it.

Everyone got in place and waited. They could hear the girls coming, and she was sure they were pretty close.

In no time they saw the hoard of girls appearing along the path leading from the courtyard into the garden. Kaoru elbowed Aki and muttered, "Be sure to smile."

"I am smiling," she mumbled back, putting on a big smile.

The girls appeared and their low chatter got louder and Aki heard the usual squeals that she expected since they were all dressed up. Most of the comments were aimed at Haruhi, Honey, and Mori instead of the other five, but of course they weren't left out of the conversations.

Everyone broke up. The hosts led their clients to their separate areas and started working their charms. Aki...She awkwardly stayed where she was. She wasn't used to doing this outside of the music room. She didn't know where to stand or go, and they weren't going to need drinks or food too much. She didn't even know where any extras were. So she just stood there, watching them all.

Over by the tables Tamaki was bringing a girl's face close to his own, close enough to kiss her (as always), Hikaru's lips were on Kaoru's finger (what happened there?), and Kyoya was saying something about cherry blossoms. At least, that's what she thought he was talking about, anyway. Over by Haruhi, Honey, and Mori's group, Honey was mixing green tea while everyone watched. They all seemed to be having fun. Aki wasn't.

She stood around for a little bit more before heading to one of the cherry blossom trees and sitting under it. It wasn't too close to the hosts so the noise was toned down, and the garden had a small stream that was near the tree, so it felt sort of peaceful. When the wind blew and made some of the petals fall, she felt like she was in a scene from an anime or something like that.

Aki caught a falling petal and stuck it in her mouth. It didn't have any special flavor and it was like the skin of a grape. She remembered back when she was little and her oldest sister told her to eat one and she thought it was going to taste great, probably like an actual cherry, but she ended up being disappointed.

She looked up at the cherry blossoms and huffed, lightly hitting her head against the tree trunk. She wished Kasumi and Nobuo were with her. They would have kept her company. Or, maybe Nobuo would have. Knowing Kasumi, she'd probably be distracted by the hosts.

She stayed still for a little while longer, then decided to make a pile of cherry blossom petals. The wind had already blown a lot off. If it were blowing any harder she was pretty sure everything would be caught in a storm of pink petals.

Once she'd gathered enough petals to make a large pile in front of her, she whipped off her beanie (it was a light pink one instead of her usual gray just for the event. And, well, she'd probably be wearing it for the rest of cherry blossom season, so for about two or so more weeks), smoothed her hair, and tossed the petals into the air, letting them shower over herself. It was like a sloppy way of decorating her hair with the petals. She knew if her sisters and mother were there they would insist on doing something special and neat so her hair didn't look like a cupcake with pink sprinkles that had been sprinkled around haphazardly, no order to it whatsoever and no real cutesy factor.

Suddenly someone grabbed her arm. She jumped and almost pulled it away, but when she saw that it was just Honey she relaxed. Mori stood behind him.

"Oh, hey, Honey-senpai," she said with a sigh. "How's it going?"

"Fine," he said. He looked like he'd been crying. Although she was curious as to why, she decided not to ask. Maybe that was part of his charm that she hadn't seen before.

Honey tugged at her hand. "Come on! Something's going on with Tama-chan. He looks sort of depressed."

"Really?" That got her interest. "Alright, I'm coming."

She pushed herself to her feet and followed Honey and Mori. Honey never let go of her hand.

She felt a piece of her hair move and she turned to see who had touched it. It was Mori who had been walking beside her. He was looking at the few petals that clung to the clump of hair he was holding, and when he saw her he gave a slightly apologetic look and dropped her hair.

"Eh, it's alright," she said. "I'm used to people touching my hair without asking. I'd only get upset if anyone I didn't like touched it, but you're pretty alright so it's no problem." He only nodded in response.

When they'd gotten close enough to the rest of the club, Honey let go of Aki's hand and hurried towards Haruhi. Tamaki already had Haruhi in his clutches and he didn't look all that happy about something.

"Haru-chan!" Honey sang when he reached her. Aki and Mori appeared behind him. "When is your class' physical examination day?"

Oh, that was right. The physical exams were coming up. How did they do it here? Rei and Emiko were telling her about it before. Well, it was really Rei telling them what Kaede had said about it.

"She said that when the boys had their physical exams, it was out in the open for all the girls to see!" Rei had said. "That means we can see the hosts without their shirts on!"

Well, she could really care less about seeing the boys, even less about seeing the host club. What she really wanted to know was if the girls were out in the open, too. Not for boys to see, obviously, but other girls would be able to see them. She hoped that wasn't the case and it was a more private matter. She didn't like getting undressed with Haruhi in the same room, but with her whole class? _And _they'd possibly see her? That was awful.

Aki didn't notice the tense atmosphere until Haruhi spoke up. "That's not good," she said. Aki glanced at the hosts and noticed them all staring at Haruhi. "I'll be found out."

Oh, yeah. If everyone thought Haruhi was a boy then she'd have to take the exams with the boys. That meant everyone would see her.

It was hard to read anyone's expressions. Well, aside from the twins and Honey who all looked shocked. Everyone else had neutral expressions. Even Tamaki looked pretty straight faced, and he always had some sort of flamboyant reaction to something possibly devastating.

There was an unsettling silence. Aki had questions about the physical exams, so she walked to Kyoya and grabbed his attention.

"Hey, when the girls get their exams done, it's private, right?" she asked.

"Of course," he said. "They wouldn't let any male students peek in on the girls."

"That's not what I –"

"I know." He pushed up his glasses and smiled at her. "Don't worry, I'm sure all of the more personal things are checked in private."

"You're _sure_? Not _certain_?"

"I am a male after all. I'm not allowed to see."

"Oh, right."

"But even if they do let anyone else see, you can just ask the doctor to keep everything behind the curtain."

"Right..."

"And I'm sure you'll want a female doctor, right?"

"Yes."

"A Miss Riku Shimizu, yes?"

Aki gawked at him. "How do you know who my doctor is?"

"I told you before that I know a lot about you," he said like it was obvious. "Plus, Miss Shimizu works for my family."

"Really?!"

"Yes."

"Do you guys own hospitals?"

"Yes." There was that tone again. "You didn't know that?"

"W-Well, I don't really pay attention to what you guys' parents and families do aside from Hikaru and Kaoru's mom."

"Hm."

Aki turned away from him, feeling pretty embarrassed. How was she supposed to know? It's not like she searched up all of them in her free time!

"Aki-chan!" Tamaki turned and grabbed Aki's shoulders. He had an expression that was a mix of anger and sadness, but soon enough he just looked sad. "You never came to my house to watch Oshin!"

"What?" It took Aki a moment to remember what he was talking about. "Oh, Oshin? Well you never really invited me to your house, Senpai." They hadn't even talked about the show since they'd found out they both watched it. She didn't know where he lived, anyway.

Tamaki looked shocked for a moment, probably realizing that what she'd said was true. "Then this weekend –"

"Actually, m'lord." Hikaru and Kaoru grabbed Aki, pulling her away from him. "Aki's coming to our house this weekend!"

"I never said that," Aki said, but Hikaru and Kaoru pressed a finger each to her lips. She pushed them away.

"No!" Tamaki protested. "You spend enough time with Aki as it is! Almost as much as you spend with Haruhi!"

"They spend exactly the same amount of time together with each girl," Kyoya said.

"Please, Aki?" Tamaki asked. He put on puppy eyes and pressed his hands together.

"Okay," Aki sighed. The twins started to protest but she put fingers to their lips. "You just need to tell me where you live and I'll come over on...I dunno, Saturday, I guess."

Tamaki grinned so wide she almost expected his face to split. He pulled her into a tight hug and spun around, thanking her and such. She hoped when she did visit he wouldn't be like this the whole time.

Two days later it was time for the physical examination. Aki could sense the excitement in the air from the girls in her class. Rei pretty much voiced what they all felt.

"We get to see Hikaru and Kaoru shirtless!" she squealed to Aki and Emiko. "Haruhi, too!"

"Right," Aki muttered. She didn't care all that much. Yes, she liked bare chests as much as the other girl, but she didn't think theirs would be anything special. But she expected all the guys in kendo and judo and other sports to be pretty toned in the chest area. That seemed like something really worth seeing.

"Are shirtless guys really that great?" Emiko asked. Rei and Aki turned to her, looking as if she's just slapped them.

"What do you mean 'are they really that great'?" Aki asked. "Shirtless guys are pretty awesome. I mean, shirtless guys with some muscle are pretty awesome."

"And pretty hot," Rei added. Aki nodded in agreement. Emiko sighed and shook her head. "You're just weird, Emi-chan."

"I am not!" Emiko said. "It's just...weird."

"Aw! You must be one of those girls!" Aki exclaimed.

"What girls?"

"Oh, she is," Rei said, smiling.

"What girls?"

"You know what."

"We will ow have a physical examination for 10th grade. We are very sorry to bother you, but would everyone in 10th grade please come to each campus' nurse's office," a female voice said over the intercom. It sounded like Ms. Sato. "Please be careful while walking."

Aki stood out of her chair along with Rei and Emiko. They left the room with their class and headed to the nurse's office. When they got there and opened the doors, a chorus of "Welcome" was heard. For a moment Aki thought she was walking into the Host Club, but then she saw the doctors and nurses, doctors lined up on the right side of the room and nurses on the left, all with big smiles on their faces.

_So this is what its like_, she thought. _Weird_.

The students spilled inside. The nurses introduced themselves to certain students. It seemed like there was one nurse for every student.

"Fukuda-sama?" A soft-spoken nurse walked up to Aki, smiling warmly like all the rest. She bowed to Aki. "I am Ota, and I'll be your attendant for today."

"Right...Hi," Aki muttered, half focused on Miss Ota, half focused on everything else. It felt so different from Tomoko Intermediate. Of course, she should expect that. It was a year later and she still kept comparing things to Tomoko.

"You won't be examined just yet, so please wait a moment."

"Okay." Aki looked down at the woman. She was pretty short. Well, Aki was taller than a lot of girls that she knew. What was she? 170 centimeters, right? Most of her female friends were shorter than her. She almost even surpassed Michiko, but they were still pretty close in height.

Ota bowed again and left. Aki looked over to the side and saw Hikaru and Kaoru's heights being measured. They were both 178.2 centimeters tall. Everyone found that amazing.

Taking another scope around the room, her eyes rested on two "doctors". One was incredibly short, the other incredibly tall. Mori and Honey.

For a moment she was confused, wondering why they were there, but then she remembered the meeting she'd gone to yesterday and what Hikaru and Kaoru had told her about the plan to keep Haruhi being a girl a secret, so she had some idea of why they were there. Still...they were pretty hard to miss, and everyone knew who they were. Not very good disguises.

Then she saw Kyoya with Haruhi and the twins. Rei pulled Emiko over to join the group of people around Mori and Honey, and Aki didn't want to join them, so she stood by Kaoru.

"...Flattering the students is the top priority," Hikaru was saying.

"All of the students have their family doctors at home anyway, so this is just a formality," Kaoru said.

"Flattering?" Aki asked. They looked at her.

"What, you didn't notice?" they asked. When she shook her head, they jabbed their thumbs towards a girl behind them with her doctor.

"You've grown two centimeters!" he said. "And you've lost 4 kg in the last year!"

"Oh..."

"Fujioka-sama, Hitachiin-sama, would you please come this way for auscultation and chest measurement?" a nurse called. "Please use the dressing room in the back for undressing."

"We don't really care," Hikaru said.

"Even if we don't have a dressing room," Kaoru continued.

Aki looked back at them and realized they'd taken off their shirts, and wow were they good-looking. Well, they didn't have much muscle, they were pretty skinny, but better than she thought. In the background girls were squealing, Rei included.

"I can't take it..." Hikaru said, turning to Kaoru. Aki was confused for a moment. "I don't want anybody to touch your body, even if he is a doctor."

Oh.

"What are you talking about?" Kaoru said quietly. "Don't we play doctor at home all the time?"

The girls squealed even louder. Aki's cheeks turned red and she turned and walked away. Those twins were really dirty, weren't they?

She noticed Emiko as she was walking away. Emiko had a small smirk on her face and said, "I don't think I'm the only one who's one of _those girls_."

"Shut it," Aki hissed. Emiko's smirk turned into a grin and she giggled.

"Fujioka-sama, are you ready?" the nurse called. The girls went quiet and they all turned to the curtain where Haruhi was supposed to be behind.

Hikaru and Kaoru stood next to Aki and they seemed pretty excited. She knew why. She was excited, too.

"Yes."

Tamaki walked out wearing a brown wig. He stared down at the nurse and she stared up at him.

"Looks like Haruhi had a growth spurt," Aki muttered.

When the girls started squealing it felt like an explosion had gone off.

"Why, Tamaki-sama?!"

"Is it a cosplay of Haruhi? Is it? Is it?"

"Why? Why?"

Most of the girls were excited. A few sounded disappointed. Aki couldn't help but laugh at Tamaki's shocked face. The twins were dying.

"HE'S DONE IT!" they cried. "It's so obvious! So obvious!"

Aki's laughing got a little harder when she saw the twins. They both had tears pouring down their faces and they were doubled over, holding their stomachs. Kaoru was banging on a nearby table, but soon stopped and just held onto the table for support.

"YOU!" Tamaki stomped over to the twins. "You said nobody would notice this!"

"It's a nice little revenge from the gay-gay members," Hikaru said between gasps. Aki covered her mouth to keep from laughing since Tamaki was right there, but she couldn't help it. Tamaki turned to her and instead of mad he looked sad.

"Aki! You too?" he said.

"S-Sorry," she giggled. He sighed and walked to the curtain, taking the wig off as he went.

Aki was quickly able to stop laughing and she helped the twins calm down. They'd laughed so hard that they now had trouble breathing. They took breaths in short gasps between laughs and chuckles. Eventually they calmed down and got dressed.

"Fukuda-sama!" Miss Ota walked up to Aki and gestured to one of the curtains. "Shimizu-sama will see you now."

"Okay."

"Can we watch?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked. She shot a glare at them.

"Don't be stupid," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"But you watched us," they said, pouting.

"_No_."

"You're no fun."

She stuck her tongue out at them and they stuck theirs out at her. Ota gently pushed Aki past the curtains, then said, "No boys allowed," before pulling them closed.

Aki faced her family doctor Dr. Shimizu. The woman had her dark brown hair tied up in a bun with one thick, curly strand hanging in front of her face. She had red framed half-moon glasses on that could never rest comfortably on her nose for too long. She looked like she was dressed more for cool fall weather than warm spring weather in her gray turtleneck and black dress pants. Her stethoscope hung around her neck and rested against her chest.

Dr. Shimizu pushed up her glasses and smiled at Aki. "It's nice to see you again, Miss Fukuda."

"Nice to see you, too," Aki said. "Weird, though. I didn't expect to have the family doc here."

"Well, I wasn't originally going to be here, you know. I'm not usually on the team of doctors who go here. But, Ootori-sama called me personally and asked me to come just for you."

Wow, he really did? She must be growing on him.

"First thing's first – height." Dr. Shimizu looked down and reached into the pocket of her lab coat. Aki noticed her raise her eyebrows and her glasses slipped lower on the bridge of her nose. When she looked back at Aki she pushed them back up.

Dr. Shimizu pulled a tap measure out of her pocket and had Ota hold one end on the ground while she held up the other.

"175 centimeters," she said. Aki's eyebrows raised. That was five more than she'd thought.

The doctor rolled up the tape measure and wrote down on her clipboard. She gestured to the scale beside Aki, meaning for her to step on.

"49 kilograms," Ota said when Aki stood on the scale. Dr. Shimizu nodded and scribbled on the clipboard.

"Two more than last year," she muttered.

"Aren't you supposed to flatter me?" Aki asked, raising an eyebrow. Dr. Shizumu smirked and adjusted her glasses.

"The two more kg makes you look amazing," she offered.

"I'll take it."

There was a scream outside. Everyone turned to the curtain for a moment, but Dr. Shimizu grabbed their attention.

"Time for auscultation," she said. "Please get undressed. Or, you know, as much as you need to." She put on her stethoscope.

Aki stood still, glancing at Ota. Ota caught her eye and quickly nodded, hurrying out of the room.

"Still don't like getting undressed around people, I see," Dr. Shimizu noted.

"Can you please hurry and get this over with?" Aki asked while getting her torso out of the dress. "I hate undressing with all these people all over the place."

"I'm the only one who can see you – Oh, calm down," she said when Aki jumped back after the cold metal of the stethoscope touched her skin.

"It's cold," she complained.

"It's not going to kill you."

Aki frowned and stood still while Dr. Shimizu did all that aus...auscolo...ausculu...whatever it was, she did that. Then she took the tape measure out and measured her chest.

"That's the one thing that didn't change," she muttered.

"That's not flattering," Aki pointed out.

"Your bust hasn't grown. That's good. You _don't _want a large chest. The back aches are awful. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience. So, anyway, you're good. And you look fine with your size anyway. It fits your body."

"I'll take that, I guess." She slipped herself back into the dress with some difficulty, but she got it eventually.

"I think that's it. You're good to go."

"Great." She redid her tie before looking up at the doctor. "Well, I'll see you later."

"Good bye."

Aki stepped out of the curtain and walked back to join the rest of her class. She noticed the crowd of girls from before had split up and the hosts were gone. Where did they go?

Oh, well. If they left then maybe it was important, and not something that concerned her.

"Hey!" Rei and Emiko appeared in front of her. "Aki-chan! What were your results?"

"Hm?"

"Your results," Rei repeated. "Height and weight and all."

"Oh. I'm 175 centimeters and 49 kilograms."

"Really? I'm 165 centimeter. That's eight more than last year, you know! Emiko's 155. She hasn't grown at all."

Emiko frowned for a moment. "I'm 45 kg. Rei is 49."

"Well now it's official – I'm the tallest," Aki said proudly.

"Yeah but guys like short girls better," Rei mumbled.

"Says who?"

"Lots of people."

Aki looked around. "Where'd the hosts go?"

Emiko shrugged. "I just saw them leave shortly after you did. They ran out like they were in a big hurry."

"I can't believe we got to see Tamaki shirtless, too!" Rei squealed. "But I wonder why he dressed up as Haruhi." Aki shrugged.

"He's probably got a thing about changing in front of people," Emiko suggested. "Haruhi, I mean. Not every guy likes showing off his chest."

"Maybe," Aki said.

They hung around the nurse's office for a little while longer until they were told to return to class. Rei linked arms with Emiko and Aki, then walked to the classroom with them. When they got there Hikaru and Kaoru snatched Aki away, eager to tell her about Mr. Yabu.


	21. Chapter 20

Aki glanced at the paper in her hand, then looked up at the house in front of her. Then back at the paper. Then at the house. Then back at the paper again because she just didn't want to look at the house. If she did then she wouldn't stop staring.

The place was _huge_! Massive! It could hold like a hundred of her houses in it, and then about a hundred more could probably be scattered around the yard!

"Aki-chaaaan!"

She looked up, staring at the house for a moment until she decided to look down, just to see Tamaki's face before he pulled her into a bear hug, pretty much knocking the wind out of her for a moment. He started blathering on about something, but she couldn't quite make it out, she just knew he was happy.

"Tamaki-senpai," she mumbled. "Let go. I can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry!" He immediately let go and started fussing over her, asking if she was okay, if she was hurting anywhere, could she breath all right, etc. She just nodded to every question while readjusting her backpack on her back and her duffel bag around her shoulder. Eventually he stopped talking and stood there, apparently waiting for her to say something.

"So, uh...this is your house?" Aki said, looking up at the house – well, more like _mansion_ – again. She didn't know why she was so in awe. She'd lived in a house as big as this when she was little! Her parents' houses combined were probably two of these! But still...Maybe it was because she hadn't seen a big mansion around this area before.

Tamaki nodded, still smiling. It was probably permanently stuck on his face. "Yep! House number two!"

"What? _Two_? What do you mean two? There are more?" He nodded.

"This and the main house." Aki looked around, expecting to see the second house around there somewhere. Tamaki chuckled and gabbed her hand. "Come on, let's get inside!" he said, pulling her up to the house. She struggled to keep up with him and make sure she didn't drop her bag.

Tamaki pulled her up the steps and straight into the house. The inside was more magnificent than the outside. Everything seemed to shine like it had just been freshly polished. The floor was almost like a mirror and she was afraid to walk on it in case she screwed anything up. A large staircase was directly in front of them, leading to the second floor. Chandelier hung from the high ceiling and she was pretty sure it was made entirely out of diamonds.

Aki could hear something running towards her and Tamaki. She heard a bark and her head whipped to the side. A Golden Retriever bounded up to them...well, it bounded up to Aki. The dog stopped in front of her and started to sniff her legs, its tail waving like crazy.

"Aki, this is my dog Antoinette," Tamaki said proudly, patting Antoniette's head. "Antoinette, this is Aki."

Antoinette barked and her tail seemed to wag faster. Aki grinned and rubbed the dog's head. "Antoinette," she said slowly, trying to pronounce it right It was a French name, wasn't it? Antoinette barked again and licked Aki's hand.

"Ahem." An old woman walked up to them, coming from some other room. Aki noticed a maid or two peeking at them from behind an archway.

Aki assumed the woman was his grandmother. She looked old enough. She had on a pale blue kimono with a green obi wrapped around her waist. Her face sagged slightly and her eyebrows arched high, giving her that "I dare you" look Aki knew too well. She also looked incredibly serious an intimidating.

"I see you have company," the woman said when she had stopped in front of them. Her tone was flat.

Tamaki nodded and wrapped his arm around Aki's shoulder. "Yep! Miss Shima, this is Aki Fukuda," he said.

"Oh, your 'daughter'," Shima said. Aki glanced at Tamaki out of the corner of her eye. Did he tell everyone she was his "daughter"?

Tamaki smiled as if it weren't weird at all. "Yep!" Then he turned to Aki. "Aki-chan, this is Shima Maezono, the chief of staff here."

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Maezono," Aki said, bowing low. So, she wasn't his grandmother?

"Likewise." Miss Maezono glanced at the duffel bag in Aki's hands. "Are you planning to sleep over?" she asked. Aki straightened up and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I wasn't originally going to, but my auntie kinda made me take the bag. She thought it would be nice if I did, so..."

"That would be wonderful!" Tamaki said, hugging Aki. "She can stay, can't she?" he asked Miss Maezono. She paused to think, although for a moment Aki couldn't tell. Her face never changed, but her eyes moved up and down Aki, as if analyzing her.

"I suppose so," she finally said. "But I would feel better if you had Kyoya stay over as well."

"I call him right away!" he said while whipping out his phone. Aki bit her tongue before she let out a disappointed noise. She didn't want to spend the day with Kyoya too.

"Miki!" Miss Maezono called. A maid hurried into the room and stood next to the old woman, waiting for her orders. "Please show Miss Fukuda to one of the guest rooms."

"Yes ma'am." Miki the Maid turned to Aki and smiled, motioning for her to follow before turning and heading to the stairs. Aki placed her bag under her arm and followed.

Miki and Aki walked up the stairs and down the hall on the next floor. It looked like the thing continued on forever, doors on every side. Some paintings were hung up on the wall here and there, some of people and the rest were scenery of countrysides and smalls towns and villages. She recognized a few as places in Japan, but she wasn't sure about the others. Some looked like they were probably in Europe.

Eventually Miki stopped and opened one of the doors. Aki followed her inside and found herself in a large bedroom. It was like her hotel room all over again. A large white bed was in the middle of the room and looked like a cloud. A dresser was pushed to the side and on the other side of the room was a vanity. Large windows were in the room letting sunlight pour in, and red drapes were on either side of the windows. A door lead off somewhere else and she guessed it was a bathroom.

"You can just leave your things here," Miki said. Aki nodded and dropped her bags. "Now if you aren't going to stay here, I can take you to the main room."

"Yeah, sure."

They walked back to the entrance and through the archway Miki had been peeking from before. Tamaki was sitting on a fancy brown couch, waiting. He grinned when she came back and motioned for her to sit next to him, and she did so.

The room had polished wooden floors instead of tiles and large windows that were almost floor-to-ceiling. Tan drapes were pulled back from the windows, letting light pour in. Three brown couches were placed around a long coffee table that sat on a large rug. A large television was set up on the wall across from one of the couches and had built in shelves on either side stacked with movies, shows, a few books, and some pictures and random artifacts. At the bottom of the shelves and under the TV were four drawers. Vases full of large flowering plants were in the corners of the rooms, most of the plants being roses.

"You house is huge, Senpai," Aki said, looking around the living room. Or, was it the main room? It just looked like a living room.

"I'm glad you think so! But, Aki-chan, you don't have to call me Senpai. We're good enough friends, aren't we? You can just call me Tamaki!"

Were they close friends? She didn't think so. "Right."

"Ah! I'm so glad my precious daughter is here!" Tamaki squealed, attacking her with a hug and nuzzling her cheek. Aki pushed him back.

It felt weird already, being there and hanging out with Tamaki outside of the club. Seeing him in casual clothing instead of the uniform or some costume, being in his house, and not even having any of the others around! So weird.

"So..." Aki glanced around for something to do. She was just here to watch Oshin, but she didn't want or need to watch it the whole time she was there. Maybe they could save it for later, like after dinner.

Her eyes landed on a grand piano near the corner of the room, raised up on a two-foot platform. Tamaki followed her eyes until he saw the piano. Then he smiled and grabbed her hand.

"Come on, I'll play for you!" he said, pulling her up. He hurried to the piano and sat down, pulling her onto the seat with him. "Any requests?"

She shrugged. "Surprise me."

He thought for a moment before turning to the piano and starting to play. It took her a second to recognize it as Fur Elise. Her eyes followed his hands as he played, awed by how smooth the movement was. Well, she was always in awe of people who played any instrument and how smooth their motions were. And how concentrated they could be. She glanced at Tamaki's face. Oh yeah, he was concentrated all right. And it looked _weird_. She'd never seen him so concentrated and serious before. Sure, he could be concentrated and serious when he was flirting at the Host Club, but that was different.

She didn't notice she had been staring or that the song had ended. His chuckle brought her back to Earth.

"You're staring at me like you're impressed! Have you fallen for me, Aki-chan?" he asked, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows. Aki laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Nah, Tamaki. It'd take a little more than piano playing to make me fall for you," she said, playfully pushing him. "I'm just impressed is all. Play something else for me. Something fast."

He grinned and nodded, then started playing a rapid tune. She had no idea what it was, but she loved it. She watched Tamaki's hands dash around the piano to press each key. She couldn't imagine her own hands going as fast as his. Her fingers would just trip over each other and screw up the song.

He eventually finished. Slow clapping was heard as soon as the song was over. Tamaki looked at Aki, but she shrugged, holding up her hands to say that it wasn't her. They looked back and saw Kyoya clapping, a small smile on his face.

"Very nice," he said. Tamaki beamed and ran to Kyoya to try and hug him, but Kyoya stepped out of the way. Aki stood up when the stool started to tilt back from Tamaki knocking it on his way to Kyoya, but it didn't end up tipping over.

"You're here!" Tamaki exclaimed.

"Of course. You asked me to come, so I did." He glanced at Aki. She gave him a small wave.

"Come sit with us." Tamaki grabbed Kyoya and pulled him to the bench. They all sat down, although it was a bit of a tight squeeze. Thankfully a maid appeared with an extra chair for Kyoya to sit in, so he moved to that chair.

Kyoya made a request, some song Aki had never heard of, and Tamaki started to play. After that he did another, one of his own choosing. When that one was done her turned to Aki.

"Can you play?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, no, not at all. I'm not good with instruments."

Kyoya nodded. "She used to play the flute, you know," he said. "Up until a couple years ago."

Aki gave him an irritated look. "I can tell him my own information, thanks."

"You used to play the flute?" Tamaki asked, sounding very interested.

"Eh, yeah. My grandma played it so she thought I should play it and she taught me...but since I moved to the area I've stopped. Doesn't really benefit me right now other than impressing my friends, but it got old quickly." Anyway, she was more into instruments that didn't required her to blow into them. She always got lightheaded and tired after playing the flute for too long. She'd really rather learn to play the guitars or violin or something, but even when she tried to learn she got bored pretty quickly. Not like she was good at any of that stuff, anyway. Drums, though...she wouldn't mind playing drums. Maybe she could learn to play a taiko drum and join the Tao group.

"I can teach you to play the piano!" Tamaki suddenly said, pulling Aki out of a brief daydream of beating a taiko drum onstage with fellow drummers.

"What? No, Tamaki, that's alright. I'd rather just hear you play. And, anyway, Kyoya-senpai's here. Don't you think it would be boring for him?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," Kyoya said. Seeing that as a go-ahead sign, Tamaki pulled Aki closer to him and started instructing her on how to play the first bit of Fur Elise. He showed her the keys to press, moving her hands and fingers so the correct finger pressed the correct key, all while babbling on about chords or something. She wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying.

"Okay, now you try," he said, letting her hands go. Aki hesitated for a long moment, then pressed one key. No one said anything, so she pressed another. Then another. Then another. At that one Tamaki stopped her and moved her hand over to the correct key. This went on for a while. Kyoya looked slightly amused, and she was pretty sure he was just having fun watching her struggle.

She'd done it successful one time. Extremely slow, but successful. That was enough for her. "Tamaki, I'm done," she said, sitting back. He pouted.

"But you were doing so well!" he said.

"My fingers hurt."

"Really? _Hé, Dominique!_" Aki almost didn't register that he'd switched languages. She had to go over what he said again.

"Was that–?"

"French," Kyoya said. Tamaki had gotten up to talk to a man standing with two maids and another butler at the doorway.

"He speaks French?" She didn't know that.

"Yes. It's his first language, in fact. You should also probably know that he is half French half Japanese."

Her jaw nearly dropped. She didn't know that, either! She never though about it, but...what else didn't she know about Tamaki? Up until now she was pretty sure she knew all she needed to about him.

"Hey, you aren't a halfer, too, are you?" she asked Kyoya. He shook his head.

"No. I'm fully Japanese."

Aki looked back at Tamaki. "So, which one's French? Out of his parents, I mean."

"His mother."

"Oh yeah? And his dad's Japanese, then?" Kyoya nodded. "So where are they? I haven't seen them here."

"Tamaki's father doesn't live here. He lives in the main mansion. As for his mother, no one knows."

She looked at him as if waiting for him to say, _Ha, just kidding_. He didn't.

Tamaki came back with the young man he'd been talking to. "Aki, hold out your hands!" he ordered. She did so.

The man – Dominique? – grabbed her hands and started massaging them, and _wow _did it feel good. She noticed Tamaki was getting Miki to massage his hands.

After Dominique was done Aki stretched out her fingers. Her hands felt a lot better now. He'd even cracked her fingers for her!

"Thanks," she said, still stretching out her fingers.

Dominique smiled and said, "_Je vous en prie_."

Aki stared at him and he stared back. Then he seemed to realize that she didn't know what he had said. "You are welcome," he said slowly, looking at the others to make sure he'd said it right. They all nodded.

"He's not that good at Japanese," Tamaki explained, although it was pretty obvious. "He's new to staff."

_Staff_. She'd only seen five people so far, but he must have more people than that. Everything suddenly felt weird again. She couldn't imagine having _staff _living with her, waiting on her hand and foot. How could anyone put up with waiting on people? Sometimes she could hardly put up with waiting on the Host Club.

"Aki-chan," Tamaki said, grabbing her attention. "Do you want to watch Oshin now?"

"No, can we save that for later? Like, after dinner or something?" He nodded. "Okay..." She trailed off. If not Oshin, then what now?

Then the doorbell rang. Miki jumped up but the maid still standing by the doorway said, "I'll get it!" and hurried off.

"Expecting anyone else?" Aki asked. Tamaki shook his head. Kyoya cleared his throat.

"I may know who it is –" he said, but he was cut off by loud chatter coming from the entrance and then a yell of, "Boss! Where are ya?"

Tamaki's mood darkened. "What are those two devils doing here?" he grumbled.

It wasn't just them. Hikaru, Kaoru, Honey, and Mori appeared in the room. Honey climbed down from Mori's shoulders and ran up to Aki and Tamaki.

"Hiya, Aki-chan! Hi, Tama-chan!" he said.

"Hi," Tamaki said a bit glumly.

"Hi," Aki said.

"You really came to Tamaki's house, huh?" Hikaru and Kaoru appeared at the bench. Hikaru pulled Tamaki off so he could sit down while Kaoru scooted Aki to the middle so he could sit down as well.

"We didn't think you would," Kaoru said.

"Hey! That's _my _seat!" Tamaki yelled, pulling on Hikaru's arm. Hikaru just shooed him away.

"How come you're here?" he said, wrapping an arm around Aki's waist.

"You should have come to our house," Kaoru said, also wrapping his arm around her waist.

"We could have a lot more _fun_ at our house," they said, smirking at Tamaki. He started yelling at them, telling them to let go of Aki and stop being perverts. Aki huffed and pushed the twins off of the bench.

"Come on, you guys, cut it out," she said. "I'm here because I want to be. Plus he asked me first, and we'd made plans long before you two ever thought of inviting me over. And I like him better." So, maybe that wasn't the truth, but she didn't even know who she liked better out of the hosts, anyway.

"Ha!" Tamaki had on a smug smile directed at the twins. "See? Aki-chan like _me _better."

"No she doesn't," Hikaru said.

"She just said that to get a reaction," Kaoru said.

"Not true!" Tamaki cried. "Right, Aki?"

"Yeah."

"But how can she like you more when we spend more time with her?" the twins asked.

"Haruhi, too," Hikaru added.

"Yeah. Haruhi probably like us _a lot_ _more _than she likes you," Kaoru said. They both had mischievous smiles on their faces.

Tamaki was fuming.

"Why would Haruhi like either of you two devils?" he yelled. "Perverts like you!"

"Sorry, who's the real pervert here?" Hikaru asked.

"We weren't the ones who attacked her in the changing room," Kaoru pointed out.

"I didn't –"

Suddenly Hikaru and Kaoru had grabbed Aki and pulled her off of the bench. "Let's go, Aki, before he attacks you, too," they said, walking back toward the entrance.

"No, stop! Aki, don't listen to them!" Tamaki grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away.

"Look at that, he's making a pass at her," Hikaru said.

"Am not!"

Aki shrugged off his hands, and he apparently took that as her thinking she was siding with the twins. "Aki, wait! I'm not a pervert! I swear!"

"Calm down, Tamaki," she said. "I'm going to go to the kitchen." As she left the room she could still hear Tamaki scolding the twins.

"Look at that! You scared her off!"

"No we didn't. You did, pervert!"

She sighed. She'd expected a calm day (or as calm as it could be) with just Tamaki and Kyoya, but with Hikaru and Kaoru here it seemed like what she would get would be far from calm.

"_Excusez-moi_!"

Aki turned back around. Miki and Dominique stood behind her, giving her strange looks.

"Mistress Fukuda, the kitchen is this way," Miki said, gesturing through the archway. Aki's nose wrinkled up at being called 'Mistress'. That was weird for her.

"It is?" Miki nodded.

"Come with us."

Miki and Dominique turned and walked back into the room with Aki trailing behind them. They went through a doorway on the side and into a large dining room with a big table in the middle and another chandelier hanging overhead (as well as a china cabinet along the wall and more pictures), then they went through another side-door and into a large kitchen.

The kitchen had white tiles all over the floor that looked as if they'd never been touched. Counters, cabinets, stoves, ovens, and more were all around the left side of the room while the right side had two small tables and was pretty much empty. The tables didn't even looked like they belonged there. Doors that probably lead to the food were on the right side of the kitchen

Honey and Mori were already in the kitchen, standing at an island in the room. One of the butlers had laid out an array of sweets, ranging from cakes to cookies, pies, and more. They looked real, but then Aki noticed that the light reflected off them in a weird way. They were fake, like the food in the windows of restaurants.

"Er, thanks," she said to Miki and Dominique.

"You're welcome," they both said, Dominique's voice trailing behind Miki's. They bowed and stepped out of the room.

Aki walked up to Honey and Mori. Honey was staring at the plastic food with a smile on his face. She wondered how big it would be if the food were real.

"What'cha doing?" Aki asked, though it was pretty obvious.

"Picking out dessert!" Honey said, looking over at her. "Tama-chan always lets me pick out dessert when we come over." Mori nodded in agreement.

"Oh." So only Honey could pick? She wanted to pick, too. Some of the pies looked like they'd be pretty good...

Honey poked Aki's shoulder. She hadn't noticed, but he was standing on a step-stool so he was a little taller. That felt weird.

"Hey, A-chan, do you want something in particular?" he asked. She was about to say _No, go ahead, I'm fine_, but then she thought back on it. She really wanted some pies, and maybe the chocolate cake towards the back. If she just told him to go ahead then she might not get what she wanted!

"Some pies would be nice," she said. "But what I'd really like is that cake over there," she added, pointing to the chocolate cake. It was covered in white icing with chocolate shavings all over the top and thirteen cherries arranged around the brim of the cake with a fourteenth in the center, all of them sitting on top of swirls of icing. The one slice cut off showed that it had two thick layers.

"Black forest cake," Mori muttered. Aki's mouth started to water.

Mori picked up a plate with a plastic brownie on it with cream on the top and two strawberries on the sides. "That looks yummy!" Honey exclaimed, looking closer at it.

"Yeah." Mori looked at Aki as if waiting for her opinion.

"Oh, yeah, it looks really good," she said, nodding. "Probably looks even better as actual food instead of plastic."

Mori nodded slightly and set the plate to the side.

"Aki-chan, stay and help us choose," Honey said. "You don't want to leave, right? You came to get away from Tama-chan, Hika-chan, and Kao-chan, right? Because they're arguing."

Aki hesitated for a second and glanced at him. "Yeah." How did he know?

Honey smiled and grabbed a lemon tart. "How's this?"


	22. Chapter 21

Aki sat with her head in her hands. Tamaki and the twins were arguing again over what they wanted to do. Tamaki wanted to go outside and play kick the can while the twins would rather play dress up with their doll, which was Aki. Tamaki had hesitated when they said that, but he still stuck to kick the can.

Finally Aki was tired of the arguing. She looked up and slammed her hands on the coffee table.

"Listen up!" she snapped at them. Though she meant to get the attention of the three guys arguing, she also got the attention of the other hosts and the maids and butlers. Whoops. She'd forgotten about the others.

"You about we all just play hide and seek?" she asked.

"You mean kick the can?" Hikaru asked, frowning.

"No, not kick the can. Hide and seek without can-kicking." At least this way they'd all be spread apart so no one would be arguing. "And whoever gets found has to help whoever's it find the others.

"Okay..." Kaoru trailed off, looking around at everyone. "So who's 'it'?"

They were all quiet. Then Honey bounced out of his seat and said, "Rock, paper, scissors! Whoever wins the most is it!"

"We're uneven, you know," Hikaru pointed out. "There are seven of us."

"I think whoever loses all of them should go up against Aki in the final round." Kaoru said.

"What? Why me?" she asked.

"Because you're the one who came up with the game in the first place."

"But Honey-senpai –"

"It's decided, then!" Hikaru and Kaoru said. "Aki goes against the ultimate loser!"

The others agreed, pretty much ignoring Aki's protests, then they started their mini tournament. First time around it was Mori vs. Honey, Tamaki vs. Kyoya, and Hikaru vs. Kaoru. Aki stood off to the side and watched them, waiting for her turn. After the first round Honey, Kyoya, and Hikaru were left. Honey and Hikaru battled each other, and Hikaru lost so he went to the semi-finals with Kyoya. Kyoya lost and went on to the final with Aki. Kyoya won.

"Aki-chan's 'it'!" Tamaki exclaimed. "Everyone hide while she counts to ten!" He grabbed her shoulders and turned her around, then dashed off with the others.

Aki huffed. "One..." she called out. "Two...Three..." She thought about cheating. Just stop at five and go after them. "Four..." Not like anyone could really do anything if she cheated, right? "Five..." What's the worse they could do? It's just a game.

She turned around and started creeping out of the room, keeping her footsteps quiet. She glanced at the maids and butlers and raised a finger to her lips. They all nodded.

"Six..." she whispered while making her way to the stairs. "Seven...Eight...Nine...Ten. Ready or not, here I come." By the time she was done saying that she had reached the top of the stairs.

Aki began searching through every room she could find, but for the longest time she had no luck. At one point she thought she'd caught Hikaru and Kaoru in a bed, but it turned out to just be pillows stuffed under the covers.

"Of course," she said, tossing the blanket back over the pillows. She walked over to the closet and pulled the door open, but found no one.

What to do, what to do? She wasn't very good at finding people, which was why she hated being 'it'. Maybe she could bait them out somehow.

Aki walked out into the hall and looked around. She hoped this worked or else she'd be hopeless.

She turned and kicked the door. Not hard enough to break or dent it, but hard enough to make the sound go down the hall.

"SHIT!" she yelled, grabbing her foot and hitting her fist on the wall. "Ow, ow, OW! Ah sh– Am I _bleeding_?!"

"Aki-chan, are you alright?"

"What'd you do?"

"AKI!" Tamaki burst out of the room she had just been in. He swung the door so far open and so fast that it hit Aki and she fell onto the ground, hitting her knee on the way down.

"Ow! Damn it, Tamaki. That actually did hurt!" Aki sat up on her knees and rubbed her arm, mostly around the area just above her elbow which was where the door handle had hit her. She was pretty sure her arm and knee would be bruised.

Aki looked down the hall. Hikaru and Kaoru stood in the doorway of a room on the opposite side and Honey was standing outside and open door almost all the way down the hall. She found them at least.

"Aki! I'm so sorry! Are you hurt too bad? Where does it hurt? Where are you bleeding?" Tamaki knelt down and started fussing over her, grabbing her arms and pulling the sleeves back, checking her head, and poking at her foot.

"Well I wasn't hurt before but now I am," she grumbled.

"Please don't be mad! Daddy's sorry!"

"I'm not mad." Okay, so maybe she was a little bit ticked off.

"Look at what you did now," Hikaru said. He and Kaoru picked her up and set her on her feet.

"Don't worry Aki, we won't hurt you like he did," Kaoru said, hugging her.

"We'll make sure you feel better," Hikaru added, also hugging her and even picking up her arm and gently kissing the spot that had already started to bruise. Tamaki fumed.

"Get off," Aki muttered, pushing them away. Well, at least Hikaru was gentle.

"Aki-chan!" Honey tugged on the end of her shirt. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's nothing but bruises," she sighed. Maybe Kasumi would say they were cool.

She looked around at the four of them. "Well?"

"Well what?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked.

"I found you, duh. Start looking for the last two."

"Hey, wait!" Hikaru said. He grabbed her just before she could walk away. "You cheated!"

"What, by faking injury? Hey, you guys were the ones who_ chose_ to leave your hiding spots. And in a way my injury wasn't all that fake." She wriggled out of his grasp as she spoke.

"But what about when you were count–"

"I'm gonna go check over here for Kyoya and Mori!" Aki said, cutting across Kaoru. She hurried into a room on the opposite side of the hall and shut the door, putting her back against it just in case the twins tried to drag her back out. Then she locked it.

Aki walked around the room once she was sure they wouldn't come after her. She'd already checked it, so she knew no one was there. Honey would probably find Mori, and Tamaki would probably find Kyoya, so she decided not to worry about it. Let the lackeys take care of everything.

She leaned against the dark wooden desk in the room and looked out the window. Tamaki sure lived in a secluded place. Whereas if she looked out any window in her house she'd see other houses, cars, and the street, all she could really see was a large yard with trees in the distance. She didn't like it. It felt...kind of lonely. At least Tamaki had his staff and Antoinette to keep him company, but still...

Aki spaced out for a moment and almost missed the person walking around the yard.

"Kyoya?" she said. "Kyoya! Hey! Kyo– oh, of course." She rolled her eyes and opened up the window. "Dumbass," she muttered to herself.

"Kyoya!" she called. Kyoya stopped and looked up at her. "What are you doing out there?"

"Playing the game, of course," he said.

"You're in plain sight!"

"You wouldn't have thought to look outside, though."

Well, yeah, that was true. She had figured that everyone was inside.

"Okay, smart," she said. "But I found you now! So come inside." Kyoya nodded and kept on walking towards the back of the house. Was there a back door?

There was a knock at the door. "Hey, Aki," Hikaru said. "Honey and Tamaki just found Mori."

"Alright. Kyoya's on his way inside." Aki shut the window and headed to the door. "Are you still there?"

"Yep," Hikaru and Kaoru answered.

"Are you waiting to grab me?"

"Yep."

She sighed a little and unlocked the door. Immediately it opened and the twins stood there with their arms crossed, blocking the exit.

"Excuse me," she said, ducking under Kaoru's elbow and running down the hallway.

"Hold up!"

She dashed down the stairs, skipping the last two steps, and into the main room, narrowly avoiding crashing into a butler. Honey, Mori, Tamaki, and Kyoya were all already in there. Aki darted behind Tamaki and pushed him forward to act as her shield. It didn't work.

Hikaru and Kaoru stepped around Tamaki and grabbed her. "So what should we do with this little cheater, boss?" they asked.

"You guys came out on your own," Aki said. "It's not _my _fault."

"Not only that, you didn't count all the way."

"Yeah I did, you just didn't hear it."

"That's not fair."

"No one said I had to be fair." They gave her irritated looks.

"So what should we do?" Hikaru asked.

"Bad puppies deserve to be punished," Kaoru said.

"Nothing serious, it's just a game," Tamaki said. "But you did cheat, Aki! So since you stopped counting at five, and you didn't find us fairly, so you aren't allowed to hide until the next person who's 'it' gets to five!"

"Okay, fine," Aki said, pulling herself away from the twins. That shouldn't be too hard. She hoped.

"Who _is _'it'?" Honey asked. "She found four of us at the same time." Aki thought for a moment.

"He's it," she said, pointing to Hikaru.

"Why me?"

"Because I said so."

"Why not Tamaki? He's the one the hit you."

Mori and Kyoya looked at Tamaki. Their expressions were blank, but it was obvious they wanted an explanation.

"He hit her with a door," Kaoru said.

"It was an accident!" Tamaki shouted.

"Can we start playing the game?" Aki asked. They were all silent, then nodded. "Okay, Hikaru, start counting."

"You stay here," Hikaru said as he turned around.

"I know, I know."

He closed his eyes and started to count. "One..." Immediately the others ran off. Hikaru opened one eye and looked back at Aki.

"I'm still here," she said.

"Obviously." He closed his eye again. "Two...Still there?"

"Yes."

"Three..."

"Still here."

"Four...Five..."

As soon as he said "five" she ran off. She didn't know where she was going to go. Maybe a bathroom? She could sit in the bathtub if it ad curtains around it. Did they have a basement? Or how about a cupboard under the stairs?

Well, she didn't have the time to check, so she just decided to run upstairs. She went to her room and quietly closed the door behind her, then headed straight into the bathroom, again quietly closing the door behind her. She was about to sit in the tub, but that didn't have any curtain around it. Then she noticed a small closet off to the side. Opening it, she found that she could fit inside if she just sat down with her knees hugged to her chest. So that's what she did.

The bathroom was quiet. Too quiet. She didn't like it. She just sat there, staring past the spaces between the shutters. Empty and quiet. And cramped. Would her back hurt later on? Probably. Her knees, too.

There was a yell from outside...maybe. She couldn't tell. If there was, it was pretty muffled. There was silence again. Then she heard someone, Hikaru most likely, running around in the hall. He went through room after room. Eventually she heard him in her room. He looked through the bedroom before walking into the bathroom. Hikaru walked around the bathroom, although there weren't that many places to hide in there. Then he spotted the closet. He walked over and opened it, but it didn't seem like he noticed her. He'd find her soon, though, as long as he searched the bottom, too.

He leaned against the frame and tapped on one of the shelves. For a moment she was pretty sure he was going to leave. He wasn't moving at all. He even turned away at one point, but then turned back and knelt down.

"Hi," Aki said. He grinned at her.

"Found you!"

She nodded as much as she could. "Yeah. You did."

"Without cheating."

"Let it go, Hikaru," she said, rolling her eyes. "And move so I can get out."

She crawled out of the closet and pushed herself up. "Am I the first person?" she asked.

"Nah. I found Tamaki first, then Kaoru. You're the third."

"Oh."

"Yeah, now get to work finding the other three."

"Yes sir!" She added in a salute. Hikaru rolled his eyes and chuckled.

They left the room and went their separate ways in the hall. Aki decided to look for Mori and Honey instead of Kyoya. _Now if I were super tall or super short, where would I be?_

She went through a few rooms, checking any space that could be big enough or small enough for either boy. Just as she was about to go into another room Kaoru walked out of it and shook his head.

"We check every room on this floor," he said.

"Alright. Let's go downstairs."

They headed to the first floor and went into the main room. Aki didn't think anyone was in there (she'd seen everyone run out of the room after all), but then Kaoru nudged her and nodded towards on of the windows. She didn't see what was out of the ordinary with it. Then she looked at the bottom of the drapes. "Oh."

Feet were poking out at the bottom. Aki walked up and pulled the drapes back. Mori stared down at her.

"Found you," she said, smiling.

"Actually, _I_ found you," Kaoru piped up. "_I_ saw you first."

"Well _I'm_ the one that pulled the curtain back."

Kaoru rolled his eyes. He looked at Mori. "We only have Honey and Kyoya left to find." Mori nodded and walked off.

"Hikaru! Tamaki! I found Mori!" Kaoru yelled.

"_I _found Mori!" Aki called. Kaoru covered her mouth.

"She's kidding. I really did." Muffled protest came from behind his hand.

Aki pulled his hand away and started to walk to the kitchen. Then she heard Hikaru yell, "I found Honey!" and Tamaki called from somewhere else, "I found Kyoya!"

Aki leaned against a couch and waited for the others. Mori was in first, then Hikaru and Honey, and finally Tamaki and Kyoya.

"Tamaki's 'it' this time!" Hikaru and Kaoru chorused as they pushed him towards a corner in the room.

"Start counting," Hikaru said.

"And don't peek!" Kaoru added.

"I know, I know!" Tamaki said, shooing them. He turned around and began to count. "One..."

Everyone ran out of the room and went off in different directions. Aki paused just as she was about halfway up the stairs. Then she turned and crept back down, staying on her toes. Silently she made her way back into the room and towards the piano, then knelt down and crawled under. She stayed there while Tamaki finished counting and watched him run out of the room.

The first person to be found was Kyoya. She knew because Tamaki yelled, "Found you, Kyoya!" The next person was Honey, found by Kyoya, then Mori, found by Tamaki.

Aki started playing around with her hat by the time. She turned it in and out, put it on her knee, rolled it up, messed with a small thread on the inside, and so on. She had forgotten for a moment about the game until a hand grabbed her shoulder, making her jump and nearly hit her head against the bottom of the piano.

"Found you," Kyoya said.

"Damn. How did you know?"

"You move too much. I also saw you go back in here."

"'Course." Aki crawled away from the piano and stood up. "How about the twins?"

"I found Kao-chan!"

"I found Hikau."

"It looks like Honey and Mori found them," Kyoya said.

"And it looks like you're it," Aki said.

The others came back and left when Kyoya started to count. Aki ran into a room upstairs and dove under the bed...only to find Tamaki there, too.

"I'll go –"

"No, it's alright!" Tamaki said, stopping her before she left. "I don't mind."

"Okay."

So they laid there. After a while Aki sighed through her nose and a puff of dust flew towards Tamaki. He frowned and blew dust at Aki. She quickly turned away to let out a sneeze.

"No more dust, no more," she whispered. Tamaki slapped his hand over her mouth when the door opened.

Someone walked around the room, opening things and closing them soon after. Then another person walked in and stopped. The first person stopped moving around. There was a pause, then the bed ruffle was lifted up on both sides.

"We found you!" the twins said brightly. They pulled Aki and Tamaki away from the bed and propped them on their feet.

"You're the last ones," Hikaru explained while Aki and Tamaki dusted themselves off.

"Mori's it for the next round!" Kaoru said.

The next round Aki decided to hide in a cupboard in the kitchen. It was a tight squeeze and she almost couldn't close the door, but she managed.

_This is more like a place for Honey, _she thought while trying to make herself comfortable. Her knees and back were really going to hurt.

She heard someone walking around the kitchen soon and held her breath as they approached her hiding spot. The door opened and the woman standing there let out a surprised squeak. Aki pressed a finger to her own lips.

"We're playing hide and seek," she said. "Please hurry and close the door before someone comes in here."

The woman nodded and closed the door, then walked away muttering something about how they were all too old to be playing hide-and-seek.

The next time the door opened it wasn't one of the staff. "I found Aki-chan!" Honey called while tugging her out of the cupboard. Aki got up and stretched out her back. A _pop_ came from somewhere around her lower back.

The next round it was Honey's turn to be it. Aki decided to hide in a closet this time. She stood in one of the corners behind the clothing and waited. Tamaki eventually found her.

The round after that was Kaoru's turn. Aki went outside to the back and just stayed out there, though she sat down under a window so it would be harder to spot her from certain angles.

She was waiting a long time during that round. A _long _time. What was taking them so long? By now they all must have been found already. Someone, mainly Kyoya, must have thought to look outside, right? So why didn't they?

She flicked a pebble while she waited, and when it started to get cooler she put on her jacket. Part of her wanted to go inside and say, _Hey! Here I am! _but the other part didn't want to. She didn't want to give up. But, she was getting pretty hungry and pretty bored...

The door opened then and Mori stepped out. He looked to one side, then to the other where he saw Aki. For a moment they just looked at each other. Then Mori walked up to her, knelt down, and patted her head. "Found you," he said. Aki smiled up at him and nodded.

"Took you long enough, too," she said.

Mori turned and motioned for her to follow, so she did. They walked back inside and went into the main room where the others were waiting. Tamaki immediately hugged her, burying her face in his chest.

"Aki-chan!" he cried. "I was so worried! We thought we'd never find you!"

"Good job, Takashi!" Honey said to Mori.

"I was just outside, you know," Aki muttered when she'd detached herself from Tamaki.

"What? That's cheating," Kaoru scolded.

"I think we should punish her again," Hikaru said.

"It's not cheating!" Aki protested. "I stayed near the house. Even if it is, you'll have to punish Kyoya, too. He was outside when I was 'it'."

"So that's why he was hard to find," Kaoru mumbled.

"Are you going to punish Kyoya?" Aki asked him and Hikaru. They glanced at each other and quickly shook their heads. "Okay, then you aren't going to punish me either." She looked at the others. "So who's 'it' now?"

"Nobody." Miss Maezono walked into the room from the dining room. "Dinner is ready now."

At the sound of that Aki's stomach let out a loud growl. Hikaru and Kaoru snickered.

"Aw, Puppy's hungry!" they said, patting her stomach and rubbing her head. "How cute!"

"Stop."

"Into the dining room, everyone!" Tamaki said. He grabbed Aki's hand and pulled her into the dining room while the others followed.

Tamaki pulled out a chair for Aki at the table and waited until she sat down to pulled out the chair on her left. Hikaru, however, sat down in the chair first.

"Thanks, boss!" he said, smirking at Tamaki. Tamaki gritted his teeth, then tried to sit in the chair on Aki's right but Kaoru sat in that one before he could, too. Tamaki started getting pretty irritated.

"I actually want to sit with Tamaki, you know," Aki said. She got out of her seat and grabbed Tamaki, pulling him over to the other side of the table and sitting down. Tamaki sat down, now in a happier mood.

Aki couldn't wait for dinner. Tamaki probably had professional chefs working for him, so it was sure to be delicious! Though, she started to wonder if they did things by courses...

"Tamaki, do you get served in courses?" she asked. Tamaki nodded.

"Of course."

She nearly let out a groan. Great. Sure, more food was good, but what would have been _better_ was if she could skip straight to the main course instead of having to wait for it and risk being full by the time the good stuff came out.

First was the appetizer. Butlers and maids walked out of the kitchen in a straight line, then divided into two so they were on each side of the table. They walked up to the teenagers and set down platters before taking off the covers to reveal small triangle shaped sandwiches arranged in circles around tiny cups of reddish-orange sauce and laying on beds of lettuce arranged in the same way. Tiny tomatoes rested between the corners of the sandwiches.

Aki's mouth watered. She picked up a sandwich, finding that the bread was toasted, and dipped it in the sauce. She bit into it and let out a small sigh. Delicious.

"So, hey." Aki swallowed the piece of her sandwich and looked at the others. "Haruhi's not here." She'd noticed that a while ago, but hadn't brought it up until now.

"Yeah. We wanted to bring her," Hikaru said before biting into one of his sandwiches.

"We told her we were going here but she said she didn't want to come," Kaoru said. "Too bad."

"We would have made her come," Hikaru added.

"But we don't know where she lives," Kaoru finished. They looked towards Kyoya but he was busy eating his food so he didn't notice.

Aki dipped her sandwich again and quickly finished it off before picking up another piece. Then another. Then another. Then lettuce. Then a tomato. Then another sandwich. In no time she'd cleared off her plate and sat waiting while the others slowly ate their food.

"Wow, Aki-chan," Honey said. He was only on his fifth sandwich. "You must be hungry, huh?"

"I guess."

Suddenly a napkin was pressed into her face. She pushed it away and looked at Tamaki.

"What was that for?" she asked.

"You had some sauce and crumbs on your face," he said, holding up the napkin. There was a small blob of sauce on there and a few crumbs that fell off when he moved it.

"You could have just told me."

"I just didn't want my little girl to look messy!"

"Right..."

Eventually the boys finished their appetizer, then the soup came out. It was bright orange with white sauce spiraled around it and a single sprig of parsley in the center. Aki stared at the soup, her brow furrowing together. What was it?

"Butternut squash." Aki looked up at Kyoya.

"What?"

"Butternut squash," he repeated. "You were wondering what this is, right?"

"Oh, yeah, right."

"You've never had butternut squash before, have you?" Kaoru asked. Aki slowly shook her head.

"No, but it'll probably be pretty good." She took a spoonful of the soup and slurped it up, and wouldn't you know, she was right.

She ate another spoonful and licked the leftover droplets from her lip. She was tempted to just lift the bowl to her lips and down the soup, but the brim of the bowl was too wide. If she tilted it the soup would spill all over the place!

_I wonder if this would be good with bread, _she thought while getting another spoonful.

Like with the sandwiches, Aki was finishing her soup a lot quicker than the others. Tamaki started to fuss and whine at one point and kept wiping her mouth and the skin around it free of stray drops of butternut squash. Whenever she protested he'd say something along the lines of, "Daddy doesn't want his daughter looking messy!" Eventually she started quickly wiping away anything with her jacket sleeve and the back of her hand.

"You're getting your sleeve dirty!" Tamaki whined.

"Calm down, boss," Hikaru said.

"It's not like it's an expensive jacket anyway," Kaoru said.

"What d'you mean by that?" Aki asked. "That it's not quality?" The twins shared side-glances, then nodded.

"So it doesn't matter if it gets dirty or not," Hikaru said bluntly.

"Don't be rude!" Tamaki yelled, covering Aki's ears. She pushed his hands away.

"It's not like it's a bad thing, you know," she muttered. "Anyway, I'm only getting food on my sleeve, not the rest of it."

"Still..."

Aki finished her soup afterward and licked her lips. She was still hungry.

Soon enough the salad came out along with tiny cups full of various dressings. Aki didn't know whether to go with ranch or Italian dressing, but in the end she went with Italian. She refused to let a butler pour it on her salad and did it herself. Why should she have someone do something as simple as that for her?

Thankfully for her the dressing was the perfect amount, so she didn't have to worry about gagging when eating a piece of lettuce that was drenched in dressing and stung the back of her throat.

Aki didn't really care for salad. It was cold and without dressing everything was plain. She ate faster than she had been, just to clear the bowl as fast as she could and be done with the salad.

"Slow down, Aki-chan!" Honey exclaimed, putting his hand on her arm. "You'll get a tummy ache!"

_Says the one who inhales cakes, _she thought.

"Well I'm done anyway, so it's okay," she said, even showing him her empty bowl.

"Just be careful next time, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay."

While the others ate she busied herself with her glass of coke, draining about three glasses before having to use the bathroom. When she came back everyone was finished.

"Main course! Main course!" Hikaru and Kaoru chanted. Aki joined in when she sat down. "Main course! Main course!"

"Quiet down," Kyoya ordered. "It will be out in a minute."

A minute was exactly right. She even timed it.

The butlers and maids came out with covered platters like they'd done before and set them on the table before pulling off the cover. Aki was slapped in the face with the beautiful smell of cook meat and baked bread rolls that pretty much overpowered any other smell. Her mouth immediately started to water again and her stomach seemed to empty as if to make room for the new food.

The dinner was filet mignon drizzled with some sort of dark, reddish-brown sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, and two bread rolls.

"Eat slowly," Honey reminded Aki.

"I will, don't worry." She smiled at him.

Aki immediately dug in to the meat. It was well done, and _man _did it taste good! If taste buds could sing then that's what hers would be doing. She, for once, ate slowly just to savor the flavor.

"Can I hire your chef?" she asked Tamaki when she'd finished the filet mignon. She was only joking, but he seemed to think she was serious.

"You can borrow one of the chefs for a while, if you'd like," he said.

"No, Tamaki, I wasn't being serious..."

"Duh," the twins said. Tamaki shushed them.

Aki started on the bread next. She was pretty sure the bread literally melted in her mouth. If not the bread then she did. It was warm and smooth and sweet and just amazing. Her taste buds would be singing _and _dancing, and after eating the mashed potatoes and green beans, they'd probably be having a party.

She ate so slowly that she actually finished when the others did. She was starting to get full, but there was still room in her stomach for more.

"See?" she said to Honey. "I was slow." He nodded with a smile and patted her head.

"Good job, Aki-chan!"

Aki smiled and turned to Tamaki. "What next? Dessert, right?"

"Yep."

Great. She knew exactly what was coming out.

Soon enough the butlers and maids were back, but this time there were more of them. They set down plates upon plates of desserts. Cakes, tarts, brownies, pudding, ice cream, and macaroons. Personally she thought they (they being her, Mori, and Honey) overdid it choosing everything, but when she got going she couldn't stop. It had been fun. At least they hadn't gone _too _overboard, although just by looking at everything that had been laid out, even she couldn't tell that all of that wasn't considered too overboard.

Aki grabbed a slice of black forest cake, apple pie, a lemon tart, and one of the brownies Mori had wanted.

She'd been right. The brownies looked much better as actual food rather than a plastic copy. They had chocolate sauce on them along with the white cream with white chocolate shavings on it, and the ends of the two small strawberries were covered in the sauce.

As for the apple pie, the crust was crispy, flaky, and golden brown. Perfect. The filling pretty much oozed out of the pie slice (which was perfectly cut. Everything was perfectly cut, in fact!), glimmering slightly in the light. A swirl of cream rested atop the pie, cinnamon lightly sprinkled on it.

The lemon tart wasn't anything special, but it didn't need to be. It was nice to see something plain among the other showy, flashy dishes. The color was a perfect bright yellow and the crust, like the apple pie, was perfect golden brown.

"Can you eat all of that?" Kyoya asked, eyeing her desserts. He just had custard pudding and a few macaroons."You'll get sick."

"If I do then at least I got sick from something I liked," she said with a shrug before starting on the cake.

Dessert was _heaven_. All the desserts were made perfectly and were sweet, warm, and melted in her mouth like the bread rolls. Aki cleaned off all her plates, even going so far as to scrape off any excess icing or sauce or filling with her fork before licking it off. She was full after eating everything she'd already had, but she was dumb enough to eat just one more macaroon. She would sure be sorry in the morning.

"You actually ate all of it, huh?" Hikaru asked, licking the last remains of pudding from his spoon.

"How can you eat that much?" Kaoru asked, doing the same. "Isn't your stomach exploding?"

Aki shrugged. "It probably will be in the morning. Probably. Most likely. Or, I dunno, even by tonight. Maybe."

Mori glanced over at her. "Your leg is shaking," he pointed out. Aki raised an eyebrow, then looked down and found that, yeah, it was bobbing up and down. She was fidgeting a lot, too, and couldn't stand to sit in one position for too long. And, now that she thought about it, she could feel the adrenaline in her system.

"I did have a lot of sugar." She shrugged. "I'll be fine, though. Eventually. When I, y'know, crash."

"What?!" Tamaki yelled. Aki cringed and covered her ear.

"I mean lose my buzz, y'know? Not literally crash. Unless I run into a wall. But, not gonna do that." A run would be nice though, so she could burn up some of her energy. If they were going to play another game then tag would be nice. But, Tamaki probably wanted to watch Oshin now. Probably.

Honey reached over and pressed his hand down on Aki's leg, making it stop. Then her other leg started to bounce. He pressed down on that one, too. Her finger started to tap on the table, although her legs were still shaking a little and thus he was shaking a little. Honey giggled at that.

The butlers and maids whisked away the dishes and left the table empty. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what to do now.

"Oshin?" Aki asked Tamaki. He grinned and nodded.

"Let's go and watch Oshin!" he said, standing up. Everyone else got up and followed him to the living room. Tamaki started to look through the cases on the shelves while the others took their seats. Aki stood off to the side, tapping her foot and bouncing a bit.

"How about you sit and calm down?" Kaoru said, tugging her hand to sit with him and Hikaru.

"I'm sitting with Tamaki, so...you know. Just gonna wait for him."

"Shima!" Tamaki called. "I can't find Oshin!"

Miss Maezono silently walked into the room and headed straight for Tamaki with Antoinette right behind her. She stopped next to him, paused for a second to look at the cases, then slipped one out of its spot.

"It was right in front of you," she sighed, handing him the case. It sounded like something she'd said to him a thousand times before.

Tamaki bounced on the balls of his feet. "Thank you, thank you!"

"I don't suppose you need help finding the DVD player?" Miss Maezono said with a hint of sarcasm. Tamaki shook his head.

"Nope!"

Miss Maezono nodded and excused herself. Tamaki popped the disk into the DVD player and sat on the couch across from the TV with Kyoya sitting beside him. Aki plopped herself down on the cushion on the other side of him. Antoinette curled up by Tamaki's feet.

Tamaki started up the show. The twins were obviously bored but Aki shushed them when they started to complain. Her eyes were glued to the TV screen. She already knew what was going to happen in the show, so nothing was really a surprise, but she still watched intently as if it were her first time.

Hikaru and Kaoru eventually got interested in the show and even brought up some similarities between Oshin and Haruhi and got Tamaki telling them about the similarities he found. Aki thought most of them were dumb similarities that didn't even fit Haruhi at all, but there were a few she could see, such as Oshin working for money, though she was working to help out her family and Haruhi was paying off debt. Well, in a way, she probably was helping out her family by not landing them in so much debt that her dad would have to work extra jobs just to support them and pay off the debt.

A few hours passed and they hadn't gotten that far in the show, but everyone was starting to get tired. Honey was the first to doze off, sleeping against Mori. Antoinette had gone to sleep some time ago. Then the twins and Tamaki fell asleep, Tamaki's head resting on Aki's shoulder. Her shoulder started to ache after a while so she just moved his head to her lap. Much better.

Aki was on the verge of falling asleep. When she lost her buzz she felt like her body was shutting down, and fast. She had a hard time focusing on the TV, or anything really. She constantly rubbed at her eyes, trying to clear her vision. Eventually she did start to fall asleep and kept wavering between consciousness and unconsciousness, dreams and reality.

Kyoya eventually turned off the TV and stood up. "Time to get daddy and the children to bed," he said in a mocking tone. He shook Aki, pulling her back into reality.

"Did you really say...that daddy and children thing?" she asked. She didn't know if she'd imagined what he said.

"Yes." Apparently not.

Mori got up, carrying Honey in one arm, and gently shook the twins with his free hand until they woke up.

"Mm? What's happenin'?" Hikaru mumbled while trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"Is it over?" Kaoru asked.

"We'll be moving to the bedrooms," Kyoya said while helping Aki pick up Tamaki (who absolutely refused to wake up). "We wouldn't want the staff to have to carry us off, would we?"

"I wouldn't mind," Hikaru admitted. Kaoru nodded.

Mori woke up Antoinette and, after a groggy start, she started to follow the hosts and Aki on their way to the upstairs rooms.

Aki didn't make it up the stairs. She was still drifting in and out of it, and eventually she was so tired that she leaned against Tamaki and fell asleep. Kyoya, now supporting both of them, had Hikaru and Kaoru pick her up and take her to her room.

Aki yawned and stretched out her back as she left the bathroom. She'd just taken a bath and now she smelled like roses.

She rubbed the towel over her damp hair, drying it as much as she could before tossing the towel onto the bed. She got dressed in a loose black shirt and gray sweatpants and put her hair in a loose ponytail before heading downstairs. The smell of bacon, eggs, cheese, potatoes, and pancakes were calling to her, although while her nose was in love her stomach was sick. It turned over when she stepped into the dinning room where the smell was the most powerful.

"Look who decided to join us," Kyoya said. The others looked at her. Tamaki grinned and waved her over to a seat next to him.

"Here you go!" he said, passing her a plate with an omelet, tons of bacon, and hash browns. Aki grimaced a her stomach turned over again.

"No thanks," she grumbled, pushing it away. Tamaki looked shocked and then worried.

"Are you okay? What's wrong? Do you not like this food? I can have the chefs make something else if you want!"

"No, it's not that –"

"She ate too much," Kyoya said. He didn't bother to hide the smug smirk on his face.

"My stomach's exploding," Aki mumbled.

"Knew it," Kaoru mumbled through a mouthful of omelet. Aki took a glass of water and started to sip at that for the time being.

Breakfast didn't last very long. The boys were already well into the food when she'd arrived, so they finished soon and for a while did nothing but laze around in the living room. After that hour Aki decided to go home, so she went up to pack away anything that wasn't already in her bag, then left.

"Bye bye, Aki-chan!" Honey said, waving frantically from Mori's shoulders. The boys all stood outside the doorway of Tamaki's house. Mori waved at her as well, although slowly.

"See you later," the twins said.

"Bye, Aki!" Tamaki called, also waving frantically. "Come back soon!"

"See you," Aki said, waving back at them. She then turned and started walking back into town where the train station was. It had been fun being with the hosts, but now she really just wanted to get home. She wouldn't mind doing it again, though.


	23. Chapter 22

Aki snorted. Haruhi's topless picture was outrageously funny!

"Haru-chan, you're so cool!" Honey exclaimed. He, Aki, and Haruhi stared at the main photo on Haruhi's page of the host's website.

"'I'm _great_ when I take off my outfit'," Aki teased, reading from the text on the picture. Haruhi groaned.

"OUTRAGEOUS!" Tamaki shouted at the twins. "DO YOU KNOW YOU'RE WASTING YOUR TALENTS BY DOING THIS! SHAME ON YOU!" They didn't seem to care. Tamaki lowered his voice when he spoke again. "If you really want to do it, you must use these celebrity idols' photography collection pictures to generate her photo. I want to see her wearing fluffy pink dress."

"It would be faster if you'd ask her to wear those clothes," Hikaru said. Tamaki seemed to freeze in realization.

"Please, everyone, let's not do this," Haruhi said, obviously irritated.

Tamaki suddenly dragged a trunk into the room and opened it up, pulling out a fluffy, frilly pink dress. Honey and Aki knelt in front of the chest and peered into it.

"Rea-really asking her to wear..." he mumbled. He held up the dress a little higher. "How about this outfit?"

"Why do you have all these costumes, Tama-chan?" Honey asked.

"Really, why _do _you have all these?" Aki asked. It was kind of weird...

Tamaki looked at Haruhi, but she caught his eyes and narrowed her own, shaking her head. He turned away, disappointed. Then he looked at Aki. She shook her head, too. She didn't want to turn into a dress-up doll, especially not during club hours.

Then came the voice. It was faint, deep, and creepy, and she had no idea where it was coming from.

"If you like toys, please join my club."

Tamaki stared behind her so she turned around and saw a boy leaning around a door she was pretty sure had never been there before. The room was bright and fun but the door was dark and gloomy. The boy had black hair, wore a black cloak the pretty much covered his whole body, and had a pale yellow, sinister-looking cat puppet on his hand.

"Who's that?" Aki asked Honey.

"That's Umehito Nekozawa," Honey whispered. "He's the president of the Black Magic club, you know!"

"Ah." That would explain the cloak.

"He doesn't like light either. That's why he stays in the shadows," Honey added. "Oh, and he really like cats, too!"

Aki nodded and stared at Nekozawa as he went on about dolls and cursed artifacts. She wondered if they actually work at all. She didn't think they would, but she wouldn't mind seeing a demonstration of some sort.

Suddenly Hikaru and Kaoru shined powerful flashlights in Nekozawa's face. Nekozawa screamed and ran off. Behind them, Tamaki was also screaming.

"HIKARU! KAORU! What's wrong with you two?!...Looks like both of you haven't experienced real terror! Like that time where I accidentally stepped on the edge of Belzenhef..." Aki listened intently. Maybe it would be a good story. "After that incident my exam papers were filled with a jumble of nonsensical, illogical incantations, probably curses! When I realized that the situation seemed too suspicious, I glanced around the room and realized that I was warped to a different place filled with strangers!"

"That's because you were so disturbed you went to take the Greek exam," Kyoya said, sighing.

_Oh, _Aki thought, now disappointed. Of course that would be what happened.

"No! That's a curse!" Tamaki yelled. "The morning after three days, for no reason at all my legs became as heavy as lead!"

"That's because we had a marathon the day before," Kyoya said. Another sigh.

"Come to think of it," the twins started, a mischievous glint in their eyes. They lowered their voices so only Tamaki could hear. Suddenly Tamaki started to scream in terror and hell broke loose for a brief moment while Tamaki asked Haruhi to look in places she shouldn't.

"Tama-chan, you cannot strip here!" Honey cried, sounding a little exasperated. Aki held her head in her hand.

"That's impossible, you know," Hikaru and Kaoru said. "That's moronic."

"You shouldn't have told him that!" Aki snapped. They shrugged and sat by an open window.

"We're bored," they simply said. Aki sighed. "Play with us, Puppy. We can play the 'Which One is Hikaru' game."

"No thanks." For a while now they'd been trying to get her to play that dumb game. She'd seen them play it a few times before with their clients, but she didn't want to. She had a fifty percent chance of being wrong, and she sure didn't want to take that chance. She'd already told them that. It would be embarrassing. How was she supposed to know who was who, anyway?

They sighed and started talking to each other. Aki turned to see if she could help calm Tamaki down, but suddenly he ran past her, looking absolutely furious. If it didn't look so funny, he'd probably be pretty scary.

"Hikaru, Kaoru..." he growled. "Come here for a sec..."

After that he went off on an hour-long lecture, yelling at them the entire time. In the end he banned them from having customers for two days, and they had to take over Aki and Haruhi's cleaning duties. Aki smirked at them and in turn they gave her irritated looks.

"Not like he'll really make us clean," Hikaru said as they left the room with Haruhi and Aki to go home.

"I don't know, he seemed pretty intent on making sure you guys got punished," Haruhi said.

"He can't keep us from having customers, either," Kaoru said.

"They won't like it," Hikaru added. "The girls will probably get mad and break the 'rule'."

"I dunno," Aki said. "Tamaki looked pretty serious."

"Please." Hikaru rolled his eyes.

The next day Tamaki put his orders into effect. He grabbed two push brooms from the supply closet and thrust them into the twins' arms, then forced them to sit down on a couch and taped papers to their chests. _No talking allowed. No movement. Prohibited from having customers for 2 days. By King._

The twins sat looking bitter and bored, but mostly bitter. Aki smirked at them and they shot quick glares at her before looking away. They'd tried to get her to play with them at the beginning of the club, then take back her cleaning duties, and now they were just sulking and giving her the cold shoulder.

"Hey, you two, when are you going to stop throwing tantrums?" Haruhi asked as she passed with a tea set in her hands.

"Then let us go to your house and play," they said. She refused.

Aki replaced the empty cups at Kyoya's table with ones filled with tea. She noticed two of Hikaru and Kaoru's usual customers at Kyoya's table, a few at Tamaki's section, and two Honey and Mori's. Kyoya had told them that they could join other hosts since they'd already requested the twins before Tamaki had made his rule. There had been one or two girls with Haruhi, too, but they'd left a while ago, leaving her with her two regulars.

Aki was filling up Tamaki's group's cups with instant coffee when she overheard the conversation between Haruhi and her customers.

"Hey, hey, Haruhi-kun!" one girl said. "We all know that the one with the right parting is Hikaru-kun, and the one with the left parting is Kaoru-kun, but are there any other differentiating factors? What if they changed their hair parting? We wouldn't be able to tell them apart!"

Aki glanced over at the twins who seemed to be listening closely, too. What _were _the differentiating factors? She'd never thought about it much. They were identical in every way. Height, looks, attitude...If they had scars she expected those to be mirror images, too. So what did make them different?

"Ha, you're right," Haruhi said, thinking. "If I must really say...Hikaru's speech and behavior sometimes reveal ten percent more evilness."

Kaoru snorted, than started to laugh. "S-Sorry...Hikaru..."

Hikaru huffed and leaned back on the couch. "I must make this clear," he said. "That's because I do not attempt to hide myself hypocritically. And if we're going to talk about evilness, that should really be your forte, Kaoru."

Kaoru stopped laughing and suddenly the atmosphere in the room became serious. The room got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was turned to watch the twins.

"Please don't spout nonsense, Hikaru," Kaoru said. "It's always been me tolerating your stubborn ways."

"Even if I am the brain behind the plots, the one who deeply planned every execution is you, Kaoru," Hikaru replied. "If you don't like it, then don't do it, fool."

"You are so silly, it's pathetic, I can't take it lying down. You're even the one who came up with the toy concept...Hikaru, actually, you like Haruhi, right? It's so obvious. You're always touching her!"

"Huh?!"

"WHAT?!" Tamaki exclaimed.

Aki's eyebrows raised. She wasn't sure if it was a low blow or what Kaoru actually believed. Was it true? She didn't pay much attention to Hikaru when he was around Haruhi, but...maybe?

"Why do you have to say that? You're really an idiot," Hikaru growled.

"Yeah, Kaoru!" Tamaki had dashed over to their couch. "In this world there are certain things you can say and things you can't!"

The twins seemed to ignore him. "Why would I like someone who looks like a little fox?" Hikaru said. Tamaki turned on him now.

"This is too attractive!" Renge exclaimed. Wait, Renge? She'd gone back to France, hadn't she? So why...?

Aki looked around and there was no doubt about it, Renge was there. Why was she back? Not like Aki didn't want her there, she could care less, but she was curious. Kyoya had told her that Renge had gone back.

"There is actually a love-quadruple surrounding Haruhi?!" she squealed. "And it's a quagmire plot that two of them are twin brothers!"

_Since when did Kaoru say he liked Haruhi? _Aki wondered. Okay, maybe he did, too. She didn't have any basis for it like she didn't have for Hikaru, but it could be a possibility, right? And Tamaki?...Well, he was kind of protective and quick to snap at anyone who said something bad about Haruhi, but she wasn't sure if that was romantic love. But maybe.

"Get lost, otaku," the twins snapped.

Renge was taken aback. She fell to her knees and started to cry. "That's too much! How can you treat a young girl this way?"

Haruhi and Tamaki appeared at her side, Haruhi kneeling down and trying to comfort her. Aki decided to try and help them out, too. She grabbed a nearby box of tissues (which had been used earlier that day when one of Tamaki's customers had accidentally dropped her cup – spilling hot tea on her lap – and burst into tears) and set it on the platter, then took a plate of uneaten cookies and put that next to the tissues. She then walked to Renge and knelt next to her, nudging her shoulder.

"Here," Aki said, holding out the tray. Renge's face brighten up and she gratefully took the tissues and cookies.

"Thank you!" she said brightly. "Uh, who are you? I feel like I've seen you before."

"I'm just a maid," Aki replied. Renge shrugged and busied herself with the cookies while dabbing at her eyes.

Suddenly there was an explosion. Not literally, but that's what it sounded like. Aki looked back just to find Hikaru and Kaoru yelling insults at each other. It looked like someone yelling at a mirror. In the background the other girls were squealing, obviously enjoying the show. Well, they were probably just squealing because of Hikaru mentioning that he and Kaoru slept in the same bed.

At first Aki was amused, but the more they argued the more...well, worried and concerned weren't the right words, but she wasn't so amused after a while. She'd seen them argue before, but those were just tiny snaps and irritated comments, then they'd go back to being their usual selves. This wasn't like that.

Finally they seemed to have reached their point. "SEVER ALL TIES!" they yelled at each other.

"'Sever all ties!' they yelled. And then they stormed out of the room," Aki said to Rei and Emiko. She'd just finished telling them about the fight between Hikaru and Kaoru, since they hadn't been at the club the other day.

Both Emiko and Rei looked surprised and worried, though Rei's worry didn't last that long. "Well, I'm sure they'll have made up by now," she said. "They're Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin –"

"We know who they are," Aki said. She smirked when Rei shot her a quick glare.

"What I'm saying is, they're really close, have been since I can remember. They can't stay mad at each other forever."

"Speaking of Hikaru and Kaoru, where are they?" Emiko asked, looking back at their empty desks. Aki and Rei shrugged.

"They'll be here eventually," Aki said. She leaned back in her chair so it was only standing on two legs. "Don't worry, Emi-chan. A fight's not going to keep them from coming to school."

"Aki, be careful!" Emiko said.

"I am being careful." She propped her elbow onto the desk behind her. "See? I'm careful."

"Aki..."

Rei gasped. Emiko and Aki looked to her to see what was wrong and she in turn pointed behind Aki. They followed her finger and gasped as well.

"Hikaru?" Haruhi said, also having noticed Hikaru.

"Morning," he said, hand raised in a greeting. His hair was spiked up and dyed pink. For a moment Aki wasn't sure it was him. It looked like him, sure, but last time she checked his hair wasn't pink.

"Oh my god!" Rei whispered to Emiko and Aki. "His hair!"

"We know," Aki said, looking back at Hikaru. He smiled at the group as he sat down behind her.

"I can't stand it when other people keep mistaking me for that Kaoru, you know," he said to them and Haruhi, and he said it loud enough that he was probably saying it to the whole class, too.

"Haruhi, Aki, good morning." Aki looked back. There was Kaoru with his normally colored hair, though it happened to be spiked up in the same way as Hikaru's. "Last night, just when I thought I could finally get to sleep alone elegantly, I had such a horrible nightmare! I can't believe I dreamt that I dyed my hair pink! What a disgusting think to do, it'd make me look stupid!"

Rei sucked in her breath. "Whoa!" she squeaked.

Aki glanced at Hikaru to see his reaction. He seemed fine...well, that is, until he pulled Kaoru's chair away from him just as he was about to sit down. Kaoru tumbled to the ground. Then he sat up and pulled Hikaru's chair, tilting him over and onto the floor. Aki flailed her arms around trying to keep her balance when Hikaru's knees hit the desk so hard it started to wobble enough to nearly knock her off. She grabbed her own desk and steadied all four legs of the chair on the ground. Emiko had on an_I told you so _look.

For the rest of the day the twins continued to fight and make things difficult for not just Haruhi (and occasionally Aki), but everyone around them. Whenever it was time to switch to a different classroom they would pull on Haruhi in front of the doorway like it was a tug o' war and she was the rope, thus holding up everyone else. Once Haruhi had hurried off before they could grab her so they turned to Aki instead. That time she'd almost been late for her English class! Another time during class they'd shot blow darts at each other only for the other to dodge and the dart to hit someone else or impale itself in the teachers' desk. (Mr. Watanabe was so confused when he found them in the front of his desk) There was another time where Kaoru had tried to douse Hikaru with water from a bucket hanging from the ceiling in the hallway, and instead Hikaru moved out of the way and Hisao was doused instead after pushing Keiji out of the way of the water (Keiji's back had gotten wet anyway).

Aki grumbled under her breath while the twins argued in the lunch line. They were trying to order lunch, but they kept asking for the same lunch in perfect synchrony! It would have been fascinating if they hadn't been holding up the line. She was still waiting to get her food!

"That's enough!" Suddenly Honey appeared between the two, temporarily stopping their fight. "If you're fighting, you must be punished!" He took out a small round cake and held it out to them. "Hika-chan, Kao-chan, have each half of the cake and you'll be alright!"

Aki took the brief distraction in her favor skipped the twins in line. "A set, please!" she said quickly. The chef in front of her set the food on her tray and she hurried down the line to get her dessert before Hikaru and Kaoru got riled up again, which they did shortly afterward.

"They'd better choose soon or else they'll keep everyone there 'til school's over," she said as she sat down with Rei and Emiko. Rei poked at the duck meat on her plate, sighing.

"It's so tense in class," she grumbled. "They need to hurry and get along again."

"No kidding," Aki said.

"Looks like Tamaki's stepping in," Emiko said. Aki looked back at the twins and the rest of the Host Club who'd just arrived. Tamaki did seem to be scolding Hikaru and Kaoru at first, but then he turned to Haruhi and shortly after that went off into a world of his own.

"Not anymore," she said.

"Do siblings usually fight that bad?" Emiko asked. Rei and Aki shrugged.

"You know me 'n Kaede get in fights a lot, and we sometimes throw stuff at each other, but they've never gotten this bad," Rei said. "And we've never dyed our hair to spite the other."

"Well you guys aren't identical twins, so..."

"My siblings and I weren't that bad...I mean, sometimes we'd get into arguments, but other than that we're pretty chilled out."

"You don't even live with your siblings, so of course you're chilled out," Rei said. "That doesn't count."

"Even if we all lived under the same roof, I think we'd still get along fine. Most of the time. Anyway, _you_ don't live with Kaede anymore."

"Yeah, but I lived with her for most of my life up until now."

"I wish I had a brother or sister," Emiko sighed. "The closest I have are my cousins, but I don't see them a lot."

"I'll be your big sister!" Rei said, slinging her arm around Emiko's shoulders. "We've known each other for so long, it's like we're sisters already."

"I'll be your sister, too," Aki said. "You get to be the baby sis, Emi-chan. I'll be the big sister, and Rei can be in the middle."

"What? No, I want to be the big sister and you can be in the middle!"

"Who's the oldest here?"

"I was born in March."

Aki hesitated. "Who's the tallest here?"

"Height doesn't mean anything! I'm the oldest!"

"No, I think I'm the oldest."

"No you aren't!"

"Yes I am."

"No you aren't!"

"Yes I am!"

"Is this what sisters are like?" Emiko mumbled.

"HEY! STOP IT! BOTH OF – YOU?!"

That was Tamaki. The girls saw him bend backward to avoid the fork that came flying towards him. The fork sailed over Tamaki and landed in a nearby bowl, splashing the man in front of it. The man stood up and wiped off his face, and the cafeteria seemed to go still and silent.

"They got the vice principal!" Rei whispered.

"Who is the main culprit?" the vice principal asked. Hikaru and Kaoru pointed at each other, but Tamaki was between both of them so the vice principal blamed him instead. He started scolding Tamaki, and Aki felt kind of sorry for him. It wasn't his fault, after all.

Afterward Tamaki was punished with cleaning up the cafeteria, but then the whole Host Club ended up sharing the punishment. Aki tried to escape before anyone could make her clean, too, but Kyoya grabbed her and turned her around, handing her a broom.

"You are part of the club after all, and cleaning the cafeteria is a shared responsibility for _all _members," he said.

"Hikaru and Kaoru aren't here," she grumbled. "And they're part of _all _members."

"They were more _successful_ in sneaking away."

"I sense a hidden meaning..."

"Anyway, it's better that they aren't here," Kyoya said while leading her to the others. "They'd end up making even more of a mess."

"True."

The Host Club (minus Hikaru and Kaoru) got to work cleaning up the mess that Hikaru and Kaoru had made (apparently they'd been throwing food at each other during lunch), and the mess that anyone else had made. They dusted the room, replaced the tablecloths with new ones, cleaned the tables, and swept and mopped the floor. Aki was relieved when she got to go to class.

Later after school they were all gathered in the club room. Tamaki, Honey, and Aki were slumped over the table they all sat at. The others seemed to be tired from all the work. Aki and Haruhi were tired from dealing with Hikaru and Kaoru today.

"Why..." Tamaki grumbled. "Because of them, I feel that the rest of us are becoming more worn out."

"If this situation persists, we will have to cancel the brotherly love package," Kyoya said. "I can assure you that the request rates will definitely decrease. I'll think about their penalty later on."

Maybe Aki could call down her own brothers to replace Hikaru and Kaoru...though they weren't twins. But they were brothers. But they wouldn't want to. Right, of course...

"Oh, hey, Haruhi? You don't have to worry about any responsibility, okay? Even if the sentence that sparked this catastrophe was made by you," Kyoua said. He had said it calmly enough, but there was an underlying bitterness in his voice.

"I don't know, maybe it was partially Tamaki's fault too," Aki said.

"What? No it wasn't!" Tamaki retorted.

"Well if they hadn't been left without their customers, maybe they wouldn't have fought," she added with a shrug.

"You know, this is the first fight between Hika-chan and Kao-chan," Honey said. Mori nodded in agreement.

"Is that so?" Haruhi asked.

"I've known them since kindergarten, even though I have never talked with them. They were always playing alone by themselves."

"Yes..." Now Tamaki decided to contribute. "I've only known them since junior high school, but...They looked odd among other people. It seemed they didn't want other people to some close by. They personalities were worse than now, too. Come to think of it, I feel that these fights and quarrels may not be a bad thing."

_Fights like they have now are bad, _Aki thought. Their fights were making things bad for everyone, and they were kind of extreme.

"At least, their world has expanded. So now the best thing to do is to leave both of them alone –" Suddenly Tamaki screamed. He'd set off some sort of trap by the twins and now spears were flying all over the place. Aki groaned. "I MUT DEFINITALY PUNISH BOTH OF THEM!" Tamaki yelled as he started chasing the twins all the way outside.

"How do they keep setting all these traps?" Aki wondered aloud, getting up and kicking away one of the spears. They were getting pretty lethal now.

She noticed Haruhi begin to walk away. So did the others. "Let's follow," Aki told them, and they did, all the way outside.

"Where do you think they went?" Honey asked from his spot on Mori's shoulders.

"There," Kyoya said, pointing towards one of the gardens.

"How can you tell?" Aki asked.

"By the arrows on the ground."

She looked towards the garden's path and saw all the arrows. They even set traps outside, huh?

Haruhi led them all towards the garden and along the path of destruction. They could hear voices and yelling, and just as they reached the twins and Tamaki (who looked battered, bruised, and had bird feces on him), Hikaru yelled, "Actually, I hate you the most!"

"Regarding that, I've always wanted to tell you too..." Kaoru yelled back. "Look at this!" Then he whipped out a wooden doll in the form of a cat. "This is the cursed voodoo doll I got from Nekozawa-senpai!"

Tamaki shrieked in fear and ran back to the hosts, hiding behind Aki. "Tamaki, it's not like he's gonna use it on you," she muttered.

Really? It came down to curses? She couldn't believe someone would hate another so much, especially not siblings. Sure, there were times where she wanted something bad to happen to one of hers, but she sure wouldn't curse them!

"Your name has already been engraved on the back of the doll, Hikaru," Kaoru said. "Now I will let you taste the same anguish and pain as the voodoo doll!"

"Hey," Haruhi said. "This is going to far."

"Haruhi, run away, quickly!" Tamaki cried. She ignored him.

"I'll make you –"

"Stop." Haruhi cut across Kaoru. Then, out of completely nowhere, she punched them both on their heads. "STOP THAT!"

The others were frozen in shock. Haruhi had never gotten physical like that with anyone before as far as they knew!

"Don't use that kind of thing for such a stupid fight!" Haruhi scolded. "Both of you are bad, and causing trouble for people around you is worse! Now, apologize to everyone! If you two don't make up and shake hands now, you will never ever set foot in my house in this lifetime."

There was a pause and the twins bowed their heads. Then they raised them, both of the boys smirking, and Hikaru had a script in his hand while Kaoru held the turned over voodoo doll which didn't have Hikaru's name on it at all.

"If we call a truce, we can go to your house?"

Aki froze for a moment, then she was flooded with anger and embarrassment, but mostly embarrassment. So they'd just been screwing around this whole time! She'd thought they were being genuine but in reality they were fooling everyone! She'd been wrong!

"I am so sorry, Kaoru!" Hikaru said dramatically while holding Kaoru in his arms. "Even though I was only following the script, but those words were really too much! I'm not fit to be your older brother!"

"Don't say that!" Kaoru said, starting to cry. "I was so worried that you would get hurt...what would I do then?"

"Kaoru! I'll never let you go again!"

"Hikaru!"

"So you guys were just bored?" Aki grumbled, walking out of the school with Hikaru and Kaoru at her side.

"Yep!" they said brightly. She gritted her teeth and hit them both with her bag.

"You jerks! Do you know how much trouble you caused everyone? You could have at least done the dangerous things in less public areas! And what about that thing with the vice principal, huh? I sure didn't want to clean up the cafeteria! You could have at least helped us out with that! And what about the more lethal traps? You could have seriously hurt someone!"

"Calm down, Puppy," they laughed, shielding themselves from her bag. "We were just playing around!"

"I don't care. It wasn't funny."

"Aw, are you mad because we tricked you?" Hikaru grinned at her.

"No."

"You totally are!" Kaoru laughed. Aki huffed.

"So what if I am? I have a right to, don't I? You'd be mad too if you were in everyone else's position, wouldn't you?"

They shrugged. "We don't know. We weren't in everyone else's position."

"Well _obviously_...Hey, you guys were using a script, but how did you know what would happen the day Haruhi said Hikaru was more evil?"

"We didn't," they said, shrugging.

"So what you guys said to each other was...?"

"Improv," they simply said.

"Oh..." Right. Improv was a thing.

"Don't look so down," Hikaru said, rubbing her head. She smacked his hand away and fixed her hat before it slipped off her head.

"You aren't the only one who got tricked," Kaoru said, doing the same thing.

"Stop it," she snapped, fixing her hat again. "Well then, I'll see you two devils tomorrow," she said when they'd stepped outside the gate. Their ride was already waiting for them.

"Bye, Puppy-chan!" Hikaru and Kaoru called as she walked away. She just gave a wave of her hand.

**A/N: Ahah, so I was reading through the manga and I realized that I've screwed some things up such as the fact that there is only one cafeteria and there are multiple lunch sets instead of just two. Sorry. I'll get it right from now on. Also, if things seem off, that's because they are from an anime-watcher's perspective. This is following the manga, so obviously some things are going to be different (like Kaoru not dying his hair).**

**That's all I had to say. Thanks for reading/favoriting/following/reviewing!**


	24. Chapter 23

"Choose one."

Aki raised an eyebrow. "Choose one what?"

"Choose one outfit." Hikaru and Kaoru pulled two outfits from behind their backs and held them in front of her.

"This is the warrior," Hikaru said, gesturing to his.

"This is the trader," Kaoru said, gesturing to his.

"Choose one," they said.

"You guys couldn't wait until I finished lunch?" she mumbled, swirling her noodles around the bowl.

"Nope. You need to choose now!"

"That one," she said, making a lazy gesture towards the trader outfit with one hand while using her chopsticks in the other. That one at least seemed to show a lot less skin. "Now leave me alone. I'm eating."

"Alone? That's unusual," they said. "Where are Rei and Emiko?"

"Emiko's studying and Rei went off somewhere."

"Want us to eat with you?" they asked.

"No thank you."

"Aw, why not?"

"Because I said so."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No! You're done eating anyway!"

"_Please_?"

"Go away!"

Aki turned around in the mirror, looking at herself from every angle. She wore a pale cream-colored shirt that ended above her hips, and over that she wore a dark green jacket trimmed in athick golden thread with thin, darker golden thread weaving through it in intricate designs. The jacket's sleeves ended at her elbow so the sleeves of her cream-colored shirt showed, going all the way down to her wrist where it bunched together. Her large, dark brownharem pants had a lot of space so she felt like her legs were out in the open instead of hidden behind cloth. A long brown strip of cloth acted as the belt (that was just there for show. The pants fit perfectly without it) and whatever wasn't around her waist or tied in a knot hung freely down to the half-way point of her thighs. She wore lightbrown shoes that curled up at the toes. On her head was a head scarf, the same cream color as her shirt, held to her head by a thick green band, and the extra fabric gathered up around the area where her neck met her shoulders. There was a lot of fabric from the scarf and some of it was piled up so it reached the tip of her chin. She pulled it down so now her neck was showing.

Aki turned to look at herself from another angle. She looked pretty nice to be quite honest. It wasn't like the outfit was flattering to her (slight) figure, it actually made her look as straight as a board, or a boy, the only indication of her being a girl being her face. The shirt was so big it was hard to even tell that she had breasts. Still, she looked nice.

"Haruhi, you ready?" Aki called.

"Yep," Haruhi replied.

Aki stepped past the curtain. Haruhi was already in her own costume. Hers was mostly cream colored. The sleeves on her shirt were much more loose, making a large oval openings at the ends. The shirt went past her waist and down to the halfway point of her thighs. She had on dull, dark red harem pants and red shoes like Aki's. Her head wrap was cream, held together by a red band, and was much longer, ending at her knees. Red cloth also hung around her neck.

Haruhi adjusted her head wrap and looked at Aki. "You look nice," she said.

"Thanks. So do you."

"Thanks."

"Let's go get the final pieces."

Haruhi nodded and they left the dressing room together.

The music room had been turned into an Arabian palace. Light pink stone pillars were set up around the room (she was pretty sure they were stone pillars, anyway. If not...they were pillars, at least), colorful backdrops were all over the walls, exotic potted plants around the room, vases and tall candelabra by the doors, gigantic long curtains were hanging from the ceiling around the area where the main set up would be for the "welcoming of the guests", etc. At the back where the curtains were, a lounge chair was set up with white fur on it. That would be Tamaki's chair.

"You two!" Hikaru and Kaoru waved the girls over. They wore matching outfits: pale green jackets, some sort of golden band with jewels hanging from it wrapped around their bare chests, dull orange pants, dark green shoes (their legs and feet looked like slender pumpkins to Aki), and dark blue head wraps with golden bands.

Aki and Haruhi walked over to them. They stood behind a cart covered in a red tablecloth. On the cart was an open glass box with golden jewelery in it. Everything screamed rich from the jewelery to the set-up to the clothing. Aki assumed she'd have the bury herself in her own clothes at home to get the rich off of her, because it was literally seeping into her skin. Okay, maybe not _literally_, but she was feeling a little overwhelmed.

Hikaru handed Aki hoop earrings with one teardrop shaped bead each, and on the ends of the teardrops were rubies.

_Drowning now, I'm drowning, _Aki thought. She was surely going to be careful today. This stuff was probably so expensive that if she broke even a teardrop her debt would double. Okay, so that was exaggerating, but that's how it felt.

"Here, Haruhi, we'll help you," the boys said before taking two earrings in their hands (also hooped, and these had three golden teardrops, the ones in the middle being larger than the ones beside it) and leaning toward her. She leaned back.

"I can do it myself, you know," she said.

"We want to help." Apparently "no" wasn't an option.

Aki looked at her earrings. Well, good thing her ears were pierced. Maybe if they weren't, clip-on earrings would have been provided.

She turned away and started to try and put on the earrings but...well, she didn't exactly know how. Someone else usually helped her out. Couldn't be that hard, though, right?

...Okay, so it was kinda hard.

"Need help?" Haruhi asked.

"No, I'm fine." Sure, it was a lie, but she would figure it out eventually. You just put the needle through the hole and try not to stick yourself with it...

Haruhi walked over and took the earrings, then proceeded to put them on Aki.

"I said I'm fine," Aki mumbled, although on the inside she was grateful.

"You said it, but you didn't mean it."

After Haruhi had put Aki's earrings on, Hikaru and Kaoru gave them their thick golden armbands. Then Hikaru gave Haruhi a long golden teapot and Kaoru handed Aki her storybook.

The storybook had all the tales of _One Thousand and One Nights_ in it. Tamaki suggested that, in addition to serving the hosts and their guests, she would tell them stories from the book. If she was going to do that she felt like she ought to be dressed as Shahrazad, the main story-teller in the whole book, but being a trader was fine, too. She probably wasn't going to dress up as a royal since that was Tamaki's thing.

Honey and Mori came out from the boys' dressing room then. Honey had on a dark blue jacket with red cloth for the cuffs and golden thread weaving in and out of it, brown fingerless gloves, dark red pants, dark blue shoes, and a white head wrap with a light pink band. Mori was shirtless, though he did have a white cloth draped around his shoulder and tied to his waist with a thin brown belt. He also wore a dark blue skirt, and a dark blue wrap. He had the simplest costume out of all of them. Aki's would have been similar if she had been a warrior.

Kyoya then walked out of the room with Tamaki behind him as Honey and Mori were getting their jewelery on. Kyoya wore a dark, dull blue button-up jacket with a sort of turtleneck, a white cloth around his shoulder with thick purple trimming and tied to him with a pale lavender belt, black pants, and black shoes. On his head was a white head wrap with a purple band.

Tamaki had on a reddish-orange jacket with dark red trimming and a reddish-orange shirt underneath that was low enough to show a lot of his chest. He wore three layers of skirts, the top one white with dark red ruffles on the end, middle one reddish-orange, and the bottom one white with purple trimming. He wore sandals on his feet, and on his head he had a dark red head wrap with an even darker shade of red making swirls around the wrap, and the curtained part was white and went down to his hips.

Tamaki immediately walked up to Haruhi. "You look cute, Haruhi!"

"I feel a little weighted down," Haruhi muttered, picking at her clothing.

"You look nice, Tamaki," Aki commented. "Very royal-like."

"I do, don't I?" Tamaki started to pose, even though no one asked him to. "Like a _king_, right?"

"No one's going to call you that," Hikaru and Kaoru said. Tamaki shot them an irritated look.

"Here," Kyoya said, putting a handful of necklaces in front of Tamaki. "You should start putting on you jewelry. A king isn't complete without his jewelry after all."

"You're right!" Tamaki then proceeded to put on all his necklaces, bracelets, ruby ring, and long earrings, having Aki and Kyoya help him with the earrings and necklaces.

"Ready?" Aki asked Kyoya. He picked up a bowl of fruit and nodded.

Suddenly the handle to one of the double doors started to turn. Everyone ran to the lounge chair and got in their places, quickly posing like they'd practiced the other day. Aki hadn't decided on a pose, so she just stood behind Tamaki and Haruhi, making sure the cover of her book was visible.

The doors opened. "Welcome."

Aki was confused when she noticed that the chatter wasn't there. It was completely silent. And then she saw the little elementary school boy.

The boy gasped and stepped back, tripping over his own two feet. No sound came out of his open mouth, but it was apparent that he was in shock.

"What? It's just a kid, and a boy too," Hikaru and Kaoru sighed.

"So all of this fuss for nothing, huh?" Aki mumbled.

"It's not for nothing. We should always welcome anyone as we would our guests. It makes a good first impression," Kyoya said.

"I don't think the impression rubbed off in a good way on him."

"What's the matter?" Tamaki asked the kid in a soft, king-like voice. "Are you lost? Or did you come to my palace looking for something?"

The kid hesitated. "Ah...You're the 'king'?"

Tamaki froze, then got up and walked over to the boy, leaning down and holding a hand up to his ear.

"King," the boy said again.

"King," the hosts and Aki echoed, trying to get the point across. Tamaki started to twirl around, obviously happy by being called "king".

"Dramaki has appeared," Aki muttered to Haruhi. They both grinned at the dumb joke.

"Hey!" the boy called, grabbing everyone's attention and making Tamaki stop. "I am junior section grade five class A's Shirou Takaouji! I would like to apply as the Host Club king's apprentice!"

Aki raised an eyebrow. Did hosts actually get apprentices? And why would a kid want to be one?

Before anyone could say anything to Tamaki, he yelled out, "Yes!"

Hikaru and Kaoru pulled him back to the hosts. "Boss, you aren't _really _serious about this kid being your apprentice, are you?"

"Of course I am!" Tamaki said brightly.

"Why? Because he called you 'king'?" Haruhi asked.

"No," Tamaki said quickly. "It's because it's a good kid."

"How can you tell?" Aki asked.

"Well, look at him."

They all looked over at Shirou. He looked alright...aside from the slightly irritated look on his face. He raised and eyebrow at them and crossed his arms, leaning his weight on one leg and tapping his foot.

"Well?" he asked. They turned away from him. "Hey!"

"See?" Tamaki said. "He's a good kid, so I'll take him under my wing." He said it with finality, so no one tried to change his mind. Tamaki walked over to Shirou and started talking, his king-ly mood coming back.

"Is this okay?" Aki asked, looking back at Kyoya. He shrugged, scribbling in his notebook.

"I don't see anything wrong with it," he said, pushing his glasses up higher on the bridge of his nose. "As long as he doesn't cause trouble during club hours. Which, speaking of, are going to start in a few minutes. Aki, if you would be so kind as to escort Shirou out."

"What? He can't start today?"

"No. A regular day would be better for him to learn from Tamaki. Now if you could please..."

"Yeah, I'm on it."

Aki walked towards Tamaki and Shirou. She nudged Tamaki back and said, "Sorry to break you two up, but our little friend here needs to go."

"Why? I want to start today!" Shirou said.

"You can start tomorrow when it's a regular day. You'll get better learning experience that way," she said while ushuring him to the door. "Just go home and finish your homework, kid. Tomorrow you can be with the king all day."

Shirou grumbled but didn't argue any further.

"Go home, kid," Aki said once he was outside the room. "And maybe think about this a little?"

"I've thought about it enough," he said firmly. Then he turned and left.

Aki noticed a couple girls down the hall. She quickly shut the door and turned around.

"They're coming!" she called, running to get back in her spot. The other hosts did the same.

Tamaki had just finished laying on the chair and making himself look presentable when the door opened.

"Welcome."

Gasps and squeals came from the crowd of girls. They looked around the room, pointing out certain things to one another. Tamaki stood up and walked forward, taking the hand of the nearest girl in his own.

"Welcome, princess, to my palace" he said, again using a king-ly tone. He leaned down and kissed her hand. Her cheeks turned bright pink.

The girls and hosts then split up. Aki stayed standing by the chair, waiting for someone to call her over. She decided to do something other than just standing in place, so she picked up a tray of lily-shaped candies on a nearby pedestal and stood in front of the chair, holding out the tray and calling out to the passing girls, acting like what she thought a merchant would. "Lilies! Lilies for sale! Won't you help out a poor trader and buy a lily?" A few girls did come and take a few of the candies, but once everyone had settled into their areas, they stopped and she stopped.

She stood around for a little again until Hikaru and Kaoru beckoned her over. Hikaru immediately took her tray and popped a lily into his mouth, then let out a satisfied, "Mmm."

"Is it really good, Hikaru?" Kaoru asked.

"Yeah." Then Hikaru got a sort of mischievous glint in his eye and said in a slightly seductive tone, "Would you like to try?" before holding one of the treats between his teeth and bringing Kaoru's face closer to his.

"Hikaru..."

Their guests squirmed in their seats. Aki used a finger to push the candy in Hikaru's mouth.

"Is that all?" she asked. Kaoru picked up a candy for himself and shook his head.

"Nope. We want you to tell us a story!"

"A story?" one of the girls asked. Hikaru nodded and stood up, stepping around the couch.

"Puppy here is going to read stories to us whenever we want," he said brightly, patting Aki's back and leading her to the front of the couch. He pulled her down to sit between him and Kaoru.

"Okay...Just hold on for a second." She flipped open to the table of contents and ran her finger down the page. As she did, the twins draped their arms around her shoulders and pressed their cheeks to hers, staring at the page. She pushed them away. "Back up. It's hot enough without you two pressing against me," she grumbled, still searching.

She hadn't read the book in such a long time that she forgot a lot of the tales. Some she remembered bits and pieces of, though there was one she remembered after staring at the name for a second. She looked up at Hikaru and Kaoru.

"Want to hear about a scandal?" she asked. They nodded, so she looked at the girls. "How about you?"

"Sure," one said while the others mumbled in agreement.

Aki nodded and flipped to the page. "This is called _The Lady and Her Two Lovers_." Aki proceeded to read the story, telling them about a sword-bearer who loved a commoner woman. He sent a page to deliver a letter to her, but the woman and the page ended up sleeping together. Then the sword-bearer came to the house and the woman hid the page in the cellar before letting the sword-bearer in and then sleeping with him. Then her _husband _showed up at the door and the woman had the sword-bearer pretend to threaten her then leave when her husband saw. She lied about the sword-bearer and page's intentions, and none of the men found out about what she'd done.

Aki finished the story and looked up. The girls looked slightly shocked.

"I can't believe she got away with that," one girl mumbled.

"How did the page not hear anything?"

"I wonder if they found out later?"

"You know, I think this was a good story to tell over here," Aki said to the twins.

"How so?" they asked.

"Well, the woman in the story is in a forbidden romance with the page and the sword-bearer, and your guys' thing is forbidden romance."

"Oh." They nodded. "You should read another forbidden romance one!"

"Maybe during your next group of girls. I first need to find another one."

"Aki-chan!" Honey called, waving to her. She pushed herself up and went over to him. "Come and read us a story." His and Mori's clients nodded excitedly.

"Okay..." She decided on _The Two Pigeons _this time, a story about a pigeon couple. They stored barley and one day the husband noticed that the barley was less than usual, so he accused his wife of stealing it, and when she defended herself he killed her. It was later when the seed turned to corn that he realized he'd made a mistake and felt sorrowful.

Honey and the girls looked sad by the end. Aki heard a few "Poor birds" from some of the girls.

For the rest of the day all she did was read stories. At some point after she'd read to every group, some of the girls who'd stuck around even after their time was up pulled Aki to a small area they had set up, full of pillows to sit on. Aki got to sit on the biggest, comfy-est of them all.

"Go on and read to us," one girl said.

"I really like the stories!"

"You should read Aladdin! That's my favorite."

"How about Ali Baba and his thieves?"

"Isn't there one about a hunchback?"

"What about the barber ones?"

"Hold on a second!" Aki said, raising her voice over theirs. She thumbed through the table of contents. "Here, we'll go with this merchant one..."

She read to the girls for a good while. Then after five or so short stories the hosts and their groups started to gather around, so Aki decided to just tell them the main story about the king who learned about his wife's unfaithfulness and had her executed, then proceeded to marry a new woman every day and kill them in the morning, and the vizier's daughter who was able to keep his interest for a thousand and one nights. When she was done it was just a little past closing time.

Everyone stood up and stretched out their backs and legs and arms. The girls said goodbye to Aki and the hosts before leaving. Aki waved goodbye before running into the changing room to pull off her costumed that had started to make her hot and sweaty (all the bodies pressed up around her hadn't helped, either). She switched into a white t-shirt, gray sweatpants, and black sneakers.

"Bye, Haruhi!" she called while running out of the room, tying her hair back into a ponytail.

"Goodbye!" Haruhi called back.

Aki's eyebrow twitched slightly. She walked towards Tamaki's table with the tea he'd asked for, still wondering why he had Shirou watching him so closely. Sure, she'd heard the reason earlier, but still...Was _nobody _at his table uncomfortable?

"...a youth tasting love for the first time," Tamaki was saying, tucking his hand under his client's chin and bringing her face closer. Her cheeks turned red.

"If I must say, she's more like the crucian carp in my garden's pond," Shirou suddenly said. Aki froze as she was setting down the tea set. "I would never use such blatant words of flattery."

The girl's eyes brimmed with tears, and in a flash she was up out of her seat and running away, bawling her eyes out. Tamaki ran after her.

"Hey," Aki said, tugging on Shirou's ear.

"Ow! What's that for?"

"You don't just say that to a girl, kid. That's rude." She said that, but it was still kind of funny, just based on how fast he was able to come up with the insult.

"Oh, lighten up on him, Aki." Hikaru and Kaoru walked over, laughing. Kaoru pulled Aki's hand away while Hikaru patted Shirou's back. "This is great, Boss! You've got a cute little bother here!"

Kaoru suddenly got serious. "Hikaru..." he said, putting on a sad, slightly pained voice. "Hikaru..." he repeated, gently shaking Hikaru's arm to get his attention. "Would you prefer a brother like him better...?"

"Idiot!" Hikaru exclaimed, embracing Kaoru. "Even if I searched the would over, no one could compare to you..."

"Oh, Hikaru..."

"Oh brother," Aki said, rolling her eyes. She'd gotten used to the twins' act by now, and now it was just a little bit annoying. She did admire their improv now more than ever, however. Just coming up with that stuff on the spot was pretty cool.

Hikaru and Kaoru turned to her. "Please, like you don't like it," Hikaru said, smirking.

"I don't," she said, hands on her hips.

"What if we got closer?" Kaoru asked.

"Wouldn't do a thing."

"Oh really?" They moved so now they were inches away from kissing. Aki blushed and turned away.

"Ha! You do like it!" Hikaru laughed. She stuck her tongue out at them and they stuck theirs back out.

"I don't like it, it's just _weird_. You know, seeing two brothers about to kiss. Hell, even two siblings. It's weird."

"What if you were in my spot?" Kaoru suggested. Hikaru let him go and walked over to Aki.

"Hey, wait, no –" But before she could do anything, he had her in his arms and his face was getting dangerously close to hers. She pushed his face away before he could get too close (although he was too close anyway) but he still kept his arms around her. "Cut it out!" Suddenly Kaoru kissed her cheek. She jumped and rubbed at her cheek while Hikaru and Kaoru laughed.

"Aw, your reaction was adorable!" Kaoru laughed, pinching her cheek. She scowled at him and punched his arm.

"What are you two DOING?!" Tamaki barged up to them and grabbed Aki's arm, attempting to pull her away. Hikaru kept a firm hold on her, however. "Stop harassing Aki!"

"We aren't harassing her," Hikaru said.

"Yeah, we're just bonding," Kaoru said. "As sibings."

"'Siblings'?" Aki muttered.

"We _are_ Boss' sons in his family," Hikaru said.

"That's not bonding!" Tamaki hissed. "That's incest! Keep it to yourselves and don't spread it to Aki!"

Then suddenly... "Are you a transvestite?"

They all froze. Then the boys rushed over to Haruhi and Shirou (who had asked if Haruhi was a transvestite), Hikaru dropping Aki in the process.

"Thanks a lot," she mumbled, picking herself off of the floor.

Tamaki stepped in front of Shirou, waving his arm as if to block Haruhi from view. "Okay, okay, we don't need you here! Could you go and get us some tea?" he said, turning Shirou around.

"Wow, Haruhi, you're so manly," Hikaru said with a nervous laugh.

"That's right!" Kaoru exclaimed. "Haruhi, give him the tea set. This is also part of training."

Aki stared at them in slight shock. They were being so obvious! And for such good actors!

"Okay, then..." Haruhi stepped toward Shirou and handed him her tray with the tea set on it. "This is very heavy, be careful..."

"Oh, this is really very heavy..." Shirou muttered just before he dropped it.

"Haruhi, one-thousand added on your debt," Kyoya said. Aki sighed, relieved. It wasn't her this time! Although that was still pretty unfair. It wasn't Haruhi's fault the kid just gave up like that.

Kyoya looked over at Aki. "Clean this up, would you?" he said. She nodded and headed to the snack room which she'd learned a while back also had a storage room connecting to it. She pulled out a broom and mop and when she went back into the room...she found Shirou in a cage.

"What in the world happened here?" she asked, walking to the hosts. She also noticed that there were a few broken plates and cups, more than there originally were. Also, one of Kyoya's tailor-made curtains was on the ground, soaking in tea. (She knew what it was because Kyoya had warned her and Haruhi to not to get it and the other curtains dirty) "I leave you guys for, what, a minute? And this happens?"

"We had to," Hikaru said, shrugging.

"He was being a brat," Kaoru said, copying Hikaru.

"He tried to use Kyoya-senpai's curtain to clean up the tea."

"He called Honey-senpai annoying."

"He threw things at Mori-senpai." That would probably explain the extra cups and plates.

"Aki." She looked over at Kyoya. He nodded to the mess. She sighed and started to clean it all up.

She was pretty focused on the cleaning. _Pretty _focused. She was so into it that she didn't notice that commotion had started up again until Shirou fell on his butt next to her and Hikaru and Kaoru started writing on him and putting band-aids on his knees. By then she was almost finished.

"What's going on?" she asked slowly.

"Weren't you paying attention?" Hikaru asked. She shook her head.

"Tamaki dubbed Shirou the mischievous type," Kaoru said. "So we're making him look the part."

_I thought that part belonged to you two, _Aki thought while watching Hikaru make a scar on Shirou's cheek.

Tamaki picked Shirou up and put him on his feet. "Now run!" he ordered, pointing in the direction of a guest who was just beginning to leave. "Run mischievously! Run frantically!"

Shirou did as he said and started to run as fast as he could toward the girl.

"THEN FALL DOWN RIGHT THERE WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!" Tamaki yelled. Aki cringed at how loud he was, then cringed again when Shirou hit the floor. Ouch.

The girl walked over to him and knelt down. "Are...Are you okay?"

"Answer right away!" Tamaki coached.

"It's nothing," Shirou said seriously. "I'm fine."

Well, he was doing a pretty good job at following Tamaki's orders. The girl was impressed.

"So cute!" she exclaimed. Tamaki and the twins gave Shirou thumbs-up.

"I don't know about this," Haruhi muttered.

Shirou spoke up. "I..." They all leaned closer to hear what the kid was about to say. "I've had ENOUGH! Idiots! If you don't want to teach me seriously then forget it!" He turned and ran away.

Aki's face fell, just a little. She didn't really like Shirou all that much, but he seemed pretty hurt, and seeing a kid sad made her sad (sometimes). Why did he want to learn how to please girls so much? Maybe there was a certain someone...? But he was a kid. She'd never seen a kid go through a lot of trouble like he'd done to actually please a puppy crush.

"Hey, Shirou?!" Tamaki called, his arm outstretched as if he were going to grab the kid. He soon dropped his arm and sighed when Shirou was out of sight. "I didn't expect him to dislike the mischievous type..."

"He said there's no time, you know," Haruhi murmured.

"Hm..."

Aki finished tying her tie and folded down the collar of her shirt. Today was the day of the recital that Tamaki had Shirou practice a whole week for (after they found out that he had a crush on a girl who liked to play the piano. Haruhi told Aki all about their stake-out at the elementary school since Aki had left before they could take her along with them). Everyone was wearing identical suits with jackets that had tails on the backs. She felt a little silly wearing a jacket like that, but oh well. She had asked to wear a suit and that's what she got. (Tamaki had protested, saying that he wanted to at least see her in a dress if he couldn't see Haruhi in one. She pointed out that he always saw her in a dress, and then asked Kyoya to get her a suit.)

Currently Tamaki and the twins were fussing over how cute Haruhi looked in her suit. Since they were distracted, Kyoya had Aki, Mori, and Honey move the grand pianos to the center of the room. Mori moved one all by himself while Aki and Honey took the other.

"Aki-chan, c'mere," Honey said, gesturing her over. He started to straighten and smooth out her suit and tucked her tie into her jacket. Then he stepped back and smiled. "There you go!"

"Thanks...Oh, Usa-chan's dressed up, too?" she asked, noticing the stuffed bunny sitting at the edge of the piano. It wore a suit identical to everyone else's.

"Yup!" Honey picked it up and held it up to her. "Isn't Usa-chan cute?"

"Very." It was times like this when she started to really doubt that Honey was her senior.

The doors to the room opened and Shirou appeared, looking a bit nervous. Tamaki bounded over to him and quickly ushered him to one of the pianos. "Sit here," he ordered, pointing to the chair. Shirou did so.

"Are you sure this'll work?" the kid asked.

"Of course!" Tamaki exclaimed. He grinned and rubbed Shirou's head. "Don't worry! It'll work out fantastically!"

"Right..." Shirou fixed his hair when Tamaki pulled away.

"You'll do great, Shirou-chan!" Honey said. Aki and Mori gave Shirou four thumbs-up.

"Boss!" Hikaru and Kaoru called. "She's coming!"

"Hurry!" Tamaki pushed Aki, Honey, and Mori to the door. They stood to the left side with Hikaru while the other's stood on Kaoru's side. Honey climbed onto Mori's back just before the door opened.

"Welcome, princess!"

A little girl, Hina Kamishiro, looked around at the hosts, amazed. Tamaki stepped up and bowed.

"Let me introduce you to today's main show: Shirou Takaoji's piano."

As soon as Hina saw Shirou she started to blush, and she looked too adorable. _"Ah, young love,"_ Michiko would say, if she were there.

"If you please, princess," Tamaki said after leading her to the second piano. He pulled out the chair and bowed a little. Hina happily sat in the chair and soon enough the two kids started to play together.

Aki watched, a little jealous that those little kids could play better than her, but she enjoyed it anyway. They both were pretty good at the piano and went through the sonata perfectly. Hina looked overjoyed to be playing with Shirou, and Shirou even cracked a smile. Aki even felt herself smiling a little. Those two kids were adorable together.


	25. Chapter 24

Aki sneezed, bouncing on the couch a little. She sniffed and rubbed her nose. "Ugh..." She slid down so her head rested on the arm rest and pulled her blanket over her nose.

Aki was sick. She'd gotten a cold from one d the kids in the neighborhood who sneezed on her, and then she'd made it worse by forgetting her umbrella one day and having to run through the heavy rain from the train station to her house after school was over. He dress looked like it had deflated that day. And then she had thought she would be fine after a day of rest and went running with Kasumi on Sunday, but she passed out as soon as she'd gotten home and had been confined to either her bed or the couch since then. Mother Nature also decided to pay her a visit that day, which really sucked.

She'd been sick for a while now. The cold had started halfway on Wednesday and she'd gone through the rain on Friday, and today was Tuesday, so she'd miss two days of school. She hadn't missed any days of school at Ouran before. How bad would the make-up work be?

She started up a coughing fit. Her chest ached from the other fits which had hurt, and this one was no different. Her chest stung by the time the coughing started to die down.

Aki grabbed the water bottle on the floor and started to chug it down. She completely drained the bottle before going to the kitchen to get another.

Michiko was at work at the moment so Aki was all alone. She'd offered to stay, but she'd already skipped work yesterday, so Aki told her to go. She'd even pushed her out the door. She would be fine, and Kasumi promised she'd take care of her after her club was over. She would be fine.

Currently she was watching Disney movies. She didn't know why, but she liked watching Disney while she was sick. It made her feel better. Plus she alternated between original English and Japanese with English subtitles so she could practice for her next test. That at least was something she could do that didn't require much energy.

She opened up her phone and glanced at the time. It was just past three o'clock. Schools would be out by now, and the hosts were probably getting ready to host. She wondered if they would do a theme day without her. She snapped her phone shut and turned to watch Mulan cut her hair.

Nearly a half-hour passed when she heard a knock at the door. She ignored it, but it came again, this time more rapidly. Then again, as if whoever it was had something really urgent to say. She groaned and slipped her mask over her mouth and nose before getting up. She didn't look too presentable at all. Her messy hair was pulled into a ponytail, but it still stuck up in random places. She rolled down her tank top so it covered her stomach and tucked it into her pajama pants. Her eyes had bags under them and her nose was pink (of course, that was covered up). She didn't care what whoever was on the other side would think. She was sick. That was an excuse to look like...well, like she was sick!

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she called as the knock came again. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and headed to the door, opening it. "What do you –"

She froze, staring up at Tamaki with his fist raised in the air, pausing mid-knock. They stared at each other for a moment, and then he grabbed her shoulders.

"Aki! Are you okay? You've been out for two days! Kyoya told us you were sick! How bad is it? Do you need anything?"

"Tamaki, be quiet," Aki said, letting out a cough at the end. He jumped as if there had been a gunshot instead.

"Are you alright?!"

"It was just a cough! I'm fine!" she snapped, although doing so made her head hurt, and it was already aching a little since he had been yelling.

Hikaru and Kaoru pushed Tamaki away and took his place in front of Aki. She glanced behind them and noticed that the whole Host Club was there.

"We didn't know you lived in such a small house," Hikaru said.

"You're rich, aren't you?" Kaoru asked. Tamaki smacked the back of their heads.

Aki ignored them. "Why are you all here? Don't you have club duties?"

"We wanted to come and make sure you were okay!" Honey said from his spot on Mori's shoulders.

"Plus it turns out a lot of girls couldn't make it," Haruhi added. "Because of tests that needed to be finished and such."

"You house even looks small from the inside," Hikaru muttered, leaning forward and peering into her home. Aki's eyebrow twitch. Her house wasn't that small. At least it wasn't like an apartment.

"Can we come inside?" Kaoru asked. They didn't wait for an answer, though, and walked past her.

_This is intrusion, isn't it? _she thought.

Sighing (and coughing), she stepped back. "Hurry up," she said. The others walked past her.

"Are you alone here?" Kyoya asked while they all kicked off their shoes. She nodded and closed the door.

"Yes."

Honey dropped down to the floor. He walked up to Aki and held up Usa-chan. The bunny was dressed in a nurse's outfit. "Here!" he said. "Usa-chan will help make you feel better!"

"Thanks, I guess," she said, taking the bunny.

"Hey, I think I found her room!" Hikaru called. The others seemed to gravitate toward his voice.

Aki let out a small sigh. Haruhi walked up and patted her back. "Are you doing okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, it's just a little cold," Aki said, giving her a thumbs-up.

"I don't think a 'little cold' keeps you out of school for two days."

"I'm alright."

Haruhi nodded and they walked to Aki's room. The hosts were busy looking at the pictures on the wall, although Kyoya seemed more interested in other things in her room.

"Is that _you_, Aki-chan?" Tamaki asked, pointing to one of the pictures of her dressed at Mickey Mouse.

Aki nodded. "Obviously."

"Who's that?" Honey asked, pointing to another picture of her as Mickey. This time she had Kasumi with her.

"That's my best friend Kasumi," she replied.

"I thought Rei and Emiko were your best friends," Hikaru said.

"I can have more than two. Anyway, I've known Kasumi a lot longer than I have Rei or Emiko."

"You sure have a lot of pictures," Kaoru commented. "Do you like photography?"

"Not really. I get most of these from other people, usually my auntie."

Mori pointed to a picture of her and Michiko. It had been taken two years ago during Christmas. They were in front of a large decorated tree with bright lights, but Michiko had edited the picture later so the background was blurred and they were the main focus.

"Your aunt?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"This is you and Kasumi, right?" Haruhi asked, pointing to a picture of Aki and Kasumi when they were about eight years old (Kasumi's hair was still brown then). They beamed at the camera, showing off their missing teeth. Kasumi's had come loose. Aki had fallen out of a tree.

"Yep." Then she started to cough again. She grimaced and turned to the others. "Come on, let's get out of here. I'm going to go lay down and I don't know if I trust you all to stay in my room alone."

"Aw, really? It's so nice in here, though!" Hikaru and Kaoru whined.

"Come on."

"Do what she says. She's sick," Tamaki said, ushering them out.

"Just because she's sick doesn't mean we have to do whatever she says all the time," Hikaru said, rolling his eyes.

"It's just a cold, anyway," Kaoru said.

"I don't care!" Tamaki snapped.

Aki and the others followed them into the living room. Aki flopped down onto the couch in front of the TV and laid down. Hikaru and Kaoru picked up her feet and sat next to her, then put her legs on their laps. Tamaki, Kyoya, and Mori took the other couch, and Honey sat on Mori's lap. Kaoru moved to the armrest so Haruhi could sit between him and Hikaru.

"Mulan? Aren't you a bit old for children's movies?" Kyoya asked.

"I'm never too old," Aki mumbled.

"So how did you get sick in the first place, Aki-chan?" Honey asked.

"Um...I got sneezed on by a sick kid...and remember on Friday when it started raining pretty hard after school?" They nodded. "I didn't have an umbrella so guess who ran through the rain."

"Didn't you see the weather report?" Haruhi asked.

"I don't check the reports. If it looks like it's going to rain then I'll bring an umbrella, and it was sunny Friday morning."

"Dummy," Hikaru said with a chuckle, rubbing Aki's head. She frowned at him, although her mouth was still hidden by the mask, so she narrowed her eyes in hopes that he'd get the point.

Tamaki seemed to get it. "Don't mess with her," he hissed.

"She's sick, not dying. She can take a little bit of teasing."

"Can you two shut up? I'm trying to watch the movie," Aki said.

"You've probably seen it almost a thousand times, haven't you?" Kaoru asked.

"So what if I have?"

"Why are there English subtitles?" Hikaru asked.

"Because I'm practicing my English now sh-shut up," she said, stuttering a little because of a cough.

They were all quiet for a moment. Then after a while they heard the front door open. Aki frowned a little. Michiko sure was home early.

"To-omi-chaaan!" she sang. "I'm home! Well, only for a little bit. I came to check up on you! Are you feeling any better, hon? I'm going to go to..." She trailed off when she stepped into the living room. She looked at the hosts, wide-eyed. "I...didn't know we were having company..." she said slowly.

"I didn't know either," Aki said.

"You should have told me! I would have made myself look presentable!" Michiko scolded. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail that partially stuck to the back of her neck, and a bandana was wrapped around her head. She had on a gray tank top, a denim jacket tied around her waist, jeans that were worn out at the knees, black sneakers, and stained brown gloves. A black mark went down her cheek and it was obvious that she'd been sweating. A dirty rag hung from one of the belt loops on her pants.

"I didn't even know you were coming early," Aki said. Michiko pursed her lips and took off her gloves.

"Aki?" Tamaki said, grabbing their attention. "Who is this? She's not your mother, is she? She looks so young."

"Is she your sister?" Honey asked. Michiko chuckled.

"No, hon," she said, smiling at him. "I'm Tomi-chan's aunt, Michiko Fukuda. Her father's sister."

"We never knew she had an aunt," Hikaru and Kaoru said. Michiko narrowed her eyes at Aki, though she kept her smile.

"What, she's never talked about me?"

"They never ask me about you," Aki said, shrugging.

"That doesn't mean you can't still tell them about me."

"Ms. Fukuda." Kyoya stood up and walked toward Michiko, stopping in front of her and taking her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, no, you don't want to kiss _my _hand," she said with a light laugh, pulling her hand away. "It's been touching cars and getting dirty and sweaty." He nodded and look up at her. Then her face lit up. "I know you! You're one of the Ootori boys! Your father showed me a picture! Aki showed me one too some time ago, but pictures sure don't do justice to how handsome you are!"

"Why, thank you."

"You –"Aki paused to cough. "You know Kyoya-senpai's dad?"

"Yep. I had to fix his car once and afterward I got into a quick chat with him. Being one of only three women at work tends to start up conversations with customers, even with the rich," she explained to the other.

Tamaki bounced up and stood next to Kyoya. He took Michiko's hand like Kyoya had. "It's wonderful to meet Aki's mother. I'm Tamaki Suo." Instead of kissing her hand directly, he kissed his fingers and pressed them to the back of her hand.

"Right, right, Hitomi told me about you. You're her third dad, right? Hold on, let me try to remember your names..." She pointed at Haruhi. "You're Haruhi Fujioka, that one's easy." Then she turned to Mori and Honey. "You're Mitsukuni Han...Wait, no, _you're _Mitsukuni Haninozuka! And you're Takashi Morinozuka!" She'd almost mixed up Honey with Mori. "I remember because Tomi-chan said you were Honey, and you look as sweet as it! And..." Finally, she turned to the twins. Her face lit up. "You two are Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin! I'm a big fan of your mom, you know. I mean, I may not look like I am with what I'm wearing right now, but I really love her work!"

"Um, excuse me?" Haruhi waved her hand a little. "You keep referring to Aki as 'Hitomi' and 'Tomi-chan'. Is her name...?"

Michiko looked at Aki who avoided her eyes. "How much don't you tell them?"

"Whatever they don't ask me."

"So they don't even know your first name!"

"Kyoya does."

"Your name isn't Aki?" Tamaki asked her. She shook her head.

"My actual given name isn't Aki. It's Hitomi. Hitomi Fukuda."

"You knew and you didn't tell us?" Hikaru and Kaoru said to Kyoya. He shrugged.

"You didn't ask," he said.

"See!" Aki exclaimed, but that made her head hurt.

"Why did you change your name, Aki-chan?" Honey asked.

Aki shrugged. "Ah, I don't remember, honestly. I wanted a new identity, I guess? After moving here with Auntie, which was when I was ten. Ten, right?"

"Well, no, you were nine, but you turned ten shortly after," Michiko said.

"Basically ten. Anyway, it didn't stick at first, Auntie kept telling everyone that I was Hitomi even if I said I was Aki, but then – what, a year and a half ago? – I tried again and it stuck. With most people anyway. That time I decided that I liked Aki better than Hitomi."

"But Hitomi's a pretty name," Tamaki said.

"Aki's still prettier."

"She also doesn't like the nickname 'Hito-chan'," Michiko said. "Only Yuudai can call her that, apparently."

"I still don't like it when he calls me that."

"But you put up with it."

"What else don't we know about you?" Haruhi asked.

"A lot, I guess?"

"I'm going," Michiko announced. "I just came home to check on my little niecey."

"Auntie, don't start."

"And I'm getting a change of clothes. I'll pick you up some curry, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"Okay!" She hurried to Aki and kissed her forehead. "Love you!"

"You too."

"And it was nice to meet you all! If you come back another time I'll make you something for dinner." Then Michiko ran out of the room. When she was gone, everyone turned to Aki.

"So?" Hikaru said. "What else?"

"I don't know."

"Where are your parents?" Haruhi asked.

"Kyushu. Nagasaki, I think."

"What happened? How come you live with your aunt instead of your parents?" Tamaki asked. He and Kyoya sat back down.

"Well, first it was with my grandparents, then it was with Michiko. But, the reason is that they're divorced."

"So? Can't you just live with one or the other?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah, but they got the divorce when I was six and it was kind of emotional for me, so my dad's parents decided to let me stay with them – and Auntie Michiko who was still in high school at the time – since I liked being with them so much on the weekends. Then four years later Auntie turned twenty and decided to move up here. I was the one who asked to go with her, and she didn't mind. So here we are."

"How come you wanted to go?" Tamaki asked. "Wouldn't you rather stay with your grandparents?"

"Eh, yes and no." She paused to cough. "I mean...I love them, but I also love Auntie, and I feel like I would do better living with someone close to my age instead of people who weren't. Plus she was already thinking about moving to this area, and at the time Kasumi lived here and she was my best friend, so I wanted to move closer to her. Also, I wanted to get out of the area, go somewhere new. Anything else?"

Honey raised his hand and waved it around a little. "So if your parents are divorced, do you have step-parents?"

"Yeah. A step-mom and a step-dad. And a few step-siblings but we don't really interact that much. I've only seen them a few times."

Tamaki raised his hand next. "Is Yuudai your boyfriend? Your aunt said he's the only one you'll let call you Hito-chan."

Aki laughed and quickly shook her head. "No way! I don't even have a boyfriend! Yuudai's my oldest brother."

"How many siblings do you have?" Haruhi asked.

"Four, all of them older than me. There's Yuudai, Manami, Masaru, and Usagi, in that order." Boy, girl, boy, girl. Manani sometimes liked to joke about Aki ruining the pattern.

"I have a question," Hikaru said. "How come you're rich but you live in a small house? And your clothes look like they came out of a regular old store. It looks like you're about as poor as Haruhi." Haruhi gave him an irritated look.

"Thanks, Hikaru," she muttered.

"Upbringing," Aki with a shrug while Tamaki quietly scolded Hikaru. "My dad's family wasn't always rich, they were middle class until dad became a successful actor. Then he gave them tons of money, but Grandma and Grandpa were never ones for spending tons of money even when they had a fortune right in their hands, and Grandma was paranoid about losing all the money if they _did _spend it like crazy and flaunt it around, so they kept living like middle class, every once in a while buying something super expensive, though usually only for anniversaries and holidays and birthdays. They raised Auntie to be the same, and when I started living there they did the same with me, and Auntie still likes to keep the old lifestyle even though Grandma and Grandpa gave her tons of cash and we still have a lot more from the money that Mom and Dad gave me." She pulled down the mask to take a drink of water. All that talking was leaving her parched.

"So you just have all of that money and don't spend it?" Tamaki asked.

"It's not like we don't spend a lot of it, we just don't spend a lot all the time. Sometimes Grandma pays for really expensive kimonos, you know. And Auntie recently bought a pretty expensive camera."

"I heard my name!" Michiko said, popping into the room.

"It's nothing, Auntie. Just go back to work."

"Okay...Bye, you all! Don't mess up my house, okay? Or my little niecey."

"We'll take good care of her," Kyoya said. Michiko grinned and mouthed, _I like this one_ to Aki, wiggling her eyebrows a little.

"Get out, Auntie!"

She laughed and waved goodbye as she walked out of the room.

"What was that about?" Haruhi asked. "The eyebrows thing?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it. Really, don't."

Honey poked Aki's shoulder. "What's your aunt's job?" he asked.

"She repairs cars," Aki replied.

"That would explain the mark," Haruhi said. Aki nodded.

"I don't know if she puts the marks there on purpose or if those really are accidental. I think –"

Then the house's front door opened again. Aki wondered if it was Michiko again, having forgotten something so she came back, but then she noticed that there were two voices instead of one, and neither of them sounded like Michiko's.

"Aki-chi!" Kasumi called out. "Nobuo and I are here to watch you! And I have a key, if you were wondering. Michiko gave me yours, but I'll give it back, don't worry."

"And we're here to get sick," Nobuo said. "Really, you should sneeze and cough on me. Or kiss me, maybe? Think that'd make me sicker faster?"

"Yeah, if she'd even _want _to kiss you at all. And isn't that considered cheating on Juro?"

"I was only kidding. I'd never kiss anyone else, not while I'm with Juro."

"Ah, you two?" Aki said. "You should know that I –"

"I got some chocolates for you, Aki-chi. Do you think that will make you feel a little bet..ter..." Kasumi's voice trailed off when she stepped into the room and noticed all the boys. She froze where she stood, making Nobuo bump into her.

"...have company," Aki finished.

"What's up, Kasumi?" He stepped around her and noticed the hosts. "Oh..."

Kasumi's cheeks turned bright red. She quickly zipped up her jacket, covering the top of her leotard, and tugged on the bottom of her skirt.

"Hi there," Nobuo said, giving the hosts a small wave.

"Hi," the hosts said.

"These your friends from the rich school?" Nobuo asked Aki. She nodded.

"Kasumi, Nobuo, these guys are from the Host Club. You saw them in the pictures," she said. Then she gestured to Honey and Mori. "These two are the third-years, Mitsukuni Haninozuka and Takashi Morinozuka." Next was Tamaki and Kyoya. "Those are the second-years, Tamaki Suo and Kyoya Ootori." Finally, her own classmates. "And these guys are in my class; Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin and Haruhi Fujioka. You all, these are my two best friends, Kasumi Nakamura and Nobuo Kawaguchi."

"And past love, don't forget to add that in," Nobuo said. Aki rolled her eyes.

"What?!" Tamaki turned to her. "You were in love with him?"

"No, I wasn't. It was just a crush."

"Aki-chi and Nobuo used to be a couple, you know," Kasumi spoke up.

"Kasumi..."

"What happened?" the twins asked.

"You didn't hurt her, did you?" Tamaki hugged Aki glared over at Nobuo.

"Cut it out," Aki snapped, pushing him away. "No, he didn't hurt me. We just went out for, what, a week? Then we realized that we were better off as friends and ended it. No serious love involved, and there was no pain afterward."

"No pain on your side at least!" Nobuo said. His hand flew to his heart. "I, on the other hand, was _devastated_!"

"Oh, please."

Kasumi stepped up and held out her hand to Tamaki to shake. "It's nice to finally meet you all. Aki-chi talks about you a lot, and we've seen some of the pictures of you guys, and let me say that those pictures do nothing for how amazing you guys look in person."

"Oooh, what a flirt," Aki muttered. Nobuo grinned.

Tamaki took her hand and kissed it, catching her off guard. "We're nothing compared to your beauty, princess." Kasumi's cheeks turned pink.

"Tamaki, can you _not _do your hosting stuff here?" Aki said.

"Oh, no, it's okay," Kasumi said, motioning for Aki to stop talking. "Do your hosting stuff all you want, I don't mind!"

While Tamaki wooed Kasumi, Nobuo personally introduced himself to the others and started to get to know them. He stopped when he got to Haruhi. "Oh, yeah, I know you. You're the other girl in the club, yeah? The one that has to pretend to be a boy? You make a really cute boy, I must say."

Hikaru and Kaoru looked at Aki. "You told him?" they asked while Tamaki started asking Nobuo if was trying to flirt with Haruhi. Kasumi moved on to talk to Honey and Mori when Tamaki's attention was pulled away.

"Kyoya didn't say I had to keep it a secret from people outside of Ouran," she said with a shrug. "So yeah, I told him and Kasumi and Michiko. It's not like it's a crime, right? I'm sure you guys have told your parents, right?"

Hikaru and Kaoru glanced at each other briefly, then nodded. "Yeah, we did."

"Okay then."

"Oh! Aki!" Kasumi opened up her bag and pulled out a bag of assorted chocolate truffles. "Here! There's a bunch of different ones in there, like a milk chocolate one, dark chocolate, milk chocolate with strawberry filling, one with nuts, and a bunch more."

"Thanks, Kasumi."

"Hey, Aki, can we try some?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked, reaching for the box. She pulled it away. "We're hungry."

"If you're hungry then go get something from the kitchen."

"You guys want some noodles?" Nobuo piped up. "I know how to make amazing noodles."

"It's true!" Kasumi said.

"Aki, what do you have?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I think Auntie got some udon noodles the other day, and probably some buckwheat noodles, too."

"Okay, I'll be back!"

Aki watched him retreat into the kitchen. Her stomach started to grumble at the thought of food. She hadn't eaten that much today.

"Hey." Kaoru leaned forward and poked Kasumi's shoulder. "Are you in ballet? You look like you came from a dance class."

"Oh, no, I'm on the gymnastics team at school," Kasumi said, a small hint of pride in her voice. "I go and train in the gym everyday after school, but today I left early so I could babysit Aki. I promised her aunt I would."

"It's not babysitting," Aki muttered.

Kasumi shrugged in return. "Nobuo's on the basketball team, although today they didn't have practice. Most of the team members have tests to study for," she explained to Aki. Aki nodded and they were all silent for a moment.

"So," Kyoya started. "How did you and Aki meet, Miss Nakamura?"

"Don't call me Miss Nakamura, please, that's too formal! Just call me Kasumi, okay?" Kasumi said, adding in a cute smile. Kyoya nodded. "Anyway, me and Aki-chi met a long time ago, back when we were still in grade school."

"We were six," Aki added.

"Yeah. She was visiting her grandparents – oh, do you know about her grandparents?"

"We know," Haruhi said. "Her parents were divorced and she visited her grandparents on the weekends until she went to live with them."

"Yep! So she was visiting them one weekend and they took her and her siblings to a park. Me and my family happened to be taking a trip down to Nagasaki that weekend and we went to the same park. I noticed that Aki-chi was sitting by herself, all curled up with her head between her knees, so I went to make sure she was okay. She was just lonely is all. After that we played in the park until I had to leave."

"She forced me to," Aki said.

"No I didn't! You played because you wanted to."

"You basically dragged me to the slide and pushed me down yourself."

"Because you weren't going on your own and there was a line of kids waiting. Duh."

Haruhi decided to cut between them. "If you don't mind me asking, Aki, why were you so upset? Was it because of the divorce?"

"Yeah. I always thought I was the reason they got the divorce, and I was so upset that day that none of the kids would come up to me. Not like I wanted them to, anyway. But this weirdo decided to," Aki said, poking Kasumi's stomach.

"Because you looked like you needed a friend."

"I also had some pretty bad social anxiety when I was young, so that was also part of the reason."

"You were really pitiful!" Nobuo called.

"You weren't even there, Nobuo!" Kasumi said.

"Keep your voice down," Aki hissed. "I have a bit of a headache here."

"Oh, sorry."

Kaoru tapped Aki's arm. "Hey, now that story time is over, do you have any video games we could play? We're bored."

"They're over in those cases, in the right-most stack," Kasumi said before Aki could even open her mouth. Hikaru and Kaoru gave Kasumi smiles before going to search through the stack.

"I was going to say that," Aki mumbled.

"I know. You gotta be faster, Aki-chi!"

Hikaru and Kaoru decided on Catherine since they'd never heard of it before, even though Aki said it was a single player game. Hikaru got to play first, since he was the oldest, and after they realized how to play, they agreed that whenever one person died or passed a level they'd hand it off to someone else (since Honey, Mori, and Tamaki decided they all wanted to play), but they'd all agree on the answers for the confession booth and for text messages. Aki hated when they were on the tower levels because that lead to a lot of yelling on the twins' part and sometimes someone else would exclaim, "No! You should have pulled out a different block!". Her headache wasn't getting any better and she'd given up on trying to get them to shut up. Haruhi was kind enough to get her a pillow.

"Noodles are ready!" Nobuo called. "Kasumi, come help me out!"

"Coming!" Kasumi jumped up and rushed to the kitchen. In a second they came out with two bowls each of meat udon.

"I hope you all like meat udon because I'm not making anything else," Nobuo said. He gave Aki hers and set the other bowl down for himself. Kasumi put her own down and gave the other to Haruhi.

"Here, I'll get two," Aki said, pushing herself up.

"No, no, no!" Kasumi exclaimed, pushing her down by her shoulders. "You're sick! Lay down!"

"I'm sick not dying," Aki responded, getting up anyway.

"See?" Hikaru and Kaoru said to Tamaki.

Aki walked into the kitchen with Kasumi and Nobuo behind her. She grabbed two bowls and went outside to give them to the twins while Nobuo and Kasumi gave the rest of the bowls to the others. Once all the bowls were distributed and Nobuo gave everyone their chopsticks, Aki sat on the couch and started to eat her noodles.

"Think this'll ruing my appetite later?" she asked, mostly to herself but she didn't mind if anyone else answered. "Auntie said she'd get me curry, but I'm eating and early dinner, so..."

"Knowing you, you'll just make room for more," Kasumi said.

"We call her 'The Beast'," Nobuo said to the hosts.

"No you don't. Stop making up dumb lies," Aki grumbled.

"Something better would be Iron Gut or something like that," Kasumi said.

"She eats a lot," Nobuo explained.

"We know," Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"You should see her and her mother and her brother together! It's terrifying!" Kasumi exclaimed. "They're like a pack of wolves!"

"We are not!" Aki snapped.

"She gets her huge stomach and fast metabolism from her mom," Nobuo said through a mouthful of noodles. Kasumi scolded him for speaking with his mouth full, so he paused to swallow. "Her brother Yuudai is the same, and supposedly Usagi is, too, but I can't confirm that."

"She is, she just doesn't eat a lot around people not int the family," Aki said with a shrug.

"Can we meet your family some day?" Honey asked.

"Uh, I dunno...Maybe someday? Not someday soon but...maybe."

"So, Kasumi, Nobuo," Kyoya said. "Tell us a little about yourselves."

Kasumi and Nobuo glanced at each other for a moment before Nobuo decided to speak up. "Well, I come from a pretty large family. I have three older sisters – they're triplets. It must have been a nightmare for my parents when their first kid came in three – one older brother, then there's me, then a younger brother, younger sister, another younger brother and sister – twins – and a baby boy, my uncle's son. My uncle's a deadbeat dad and the mother didn't want the kid. She's also in rehab, so we'd be taking him in anyway."

"That is really big," Tamaki said, wide-eyed.

"Yeah. His parents are crazy," Aki said. Nobuo flicked her arm. "Ow."

"Please, like that hurt. And they aren't crazy. If they'd never had twins or triplet they'd just have six kids minus Little Koko. That's only one more than your family."

"But they didn't and they still kept going well after three."

"Little Koko?" Haruhi said.

"My cousin's name is Koichi," Nobuo explained. "We just call him Koko."

"How old is he?"

"Only a year old."

"I wanna see him!" Honey announced. "Can we, Nobu-chan? Can we?"

"Nobu-chan?" Kasumi mumbled.

"Is it really alright to bring Koko around all these people?" Aki asked. Nobuo shrugged.

"It'll probably be alright. He likes attention anyway." He stood up with his bowl. "I'll go and get Koko. Kasumi needs to watch him today, anyway."

"Oh, yeah! Babysitting time!" Kasumi said.

"Be back." With that, he left.

The hosts turned their attention on Kasumi. "How about you?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked.

"Me? Well, firstly, I have a _normal-sized _family, unlike Aki and Nobuo."

"Five kids isn't that bad," Aki mumbled through a mouthful of noodles.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Aki! Anyway, my family is only me, my mom, dad, and my older brother Tetsuo – he's already in college. Dad's in the navy so he sometimes moves around a lot – not us, though, because Momma's dad was in the military and she moved around a lot, so she put her foot down when it came to moving around after they had Testuo. So dad agreed that we'd stay here and he'd be the one to move around, but whenever he's got time off he comes and stays with us if he isn't lucky enough to move to this area...Okay, what else...?"

"She likes being cute," Aki told the hosts. "As you can see by her calling me Aki-chi. And if you noticed her clothing in any of the pictures."

"Oh, yeah! Well, I'm this tiny, so being cute just fits. And I'm pretty good at it, don't you think?" she asked, shooting a sweet smile at the hosts. They nodded. "In our group, I'm the cutie, Aki's the troublemaker, and Nobuo's the drug dealer."

Tamaki nearly choked on his soup. "WHAT?"

Aki pushed Kasumi's head. "He's not a drug dealer."

"But the way he makes his deals are shady," Kasumi said.

Aki turned to the hosts to explain. "Nobuo gets things for people, but it isn't drugs. Sometimes he gets specific things like magazines – dirty ones are usually what he's asked to get –"

"Gross," Kasumi chimed.

"Games, CDs, sometimes even expensive stuff like jewelery."

"One of the most recent things he got was an engagement ring."

"Yeah. He does this for people who are paranoid about getting caught buying the stuff or don't have the money to – and they do pay him later on, I make sure of it – or are trying to get a gift for someone. It's really harmless. It started out as a thing for otakus back when we were in our sixth years in elementary school, and eventually everyone started growing up, wanting different things, and he got known to people outside of school. He never accepts any requests for drugs or cigarettes or alcohol, and it's not like what he does is bad." She didn't _think_ it was bad or illegal, anyway.

"He's a sweetie, really," Kasumi said. "It's no wonder Juro likes him."

"Juro's his boyfriend."

"He's gay?" Hikaru asked.

"Bisexual."

"Oh, Aki!" Kasumi tapped her arm to get her attention. "Speaking of boys and boyfriends, do you still have that copy of Uki Doki Memorial? I'd kinda like to have it back."

"Oh, yeah I..." Aki glanced at the hosts who were staring at her, a few wide-eyed. She saw the word "otaku" forming on Hikaru and Kaoru's lips, so she quickly spoke before they could. "Not a big otaku! I'm not! I used to be when I was younger, around my sixth year in elementary, but I'm not a huge one anymore. I mean, yeah, I still like anime and manga at all but I'm not as crazy about it as I used to be. And I only have that game because of Renge, you know? I just forgot to give it back to Kasumi."

"Suuure," Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"I'm telling the truth."

"She is!" Kasumi exclaimed. "Aki-chi was really into the stuff years ago when she still went by Hitomi. She's calmed down, though."

"I just wanted to play the game to see if Kyoya really _did _resemble Ichijo, and, well, it's kinda like a mirror image. And my curiosity got the best of me so I did all of the story lines..."

The front door opened then and Nobuo walked in, taking all the attention away from Aki. He grinned at everyone and tapped on the back of the baby he was carrying. "Koko, turn around and say hi."

Koko turned his head toward everyone. His face was a little chubby and he had permanently rosy cheeks. Thin, soft, short black hair was on his head and was styled so it stuck up in the front. He had big brown eyes with long eyelashes, a cute button nose, and ears that stuck out a little.

Koko looked around at everyone, his thumb stuck in his mouth. He put it back in no matter how many times Nobuo pulled it away.

"Aw! He's so cute!" Honey exclaimed, running up to Nobuo. "Can I hold him? Please?" He reached his arms up for Koko. Koko took notice and decided to reach for Honey as well.

"Looks like he wouldn't mind at all, so yeah, go ahead," Nobuo said, handing over Koko. "Just be careful with him. Mom'll murder me if he gets hurt. She wasn't even keen on letting me take him in the first place. Because of you," he said to Aki.

"I will! Promise!" Honey carefully took Koko from Nobuo. Koko immediately latched onto him and put his thumb back in his mouth. He made a few gurgling noises and babbles as he looked Honey over. Honey grinned and started to tickle Koko's stomach, sending the baby into a giggle and squeal fit.

Koko was then passed around the room from person to person, and he seemed to love it. If he wasn't sucking on his thumb he was beaming at everyone, showing off his two front teeth. Mori held him up high and he stared down at everyone in amazement. Kyoya held him for a little, but Koko had to be passed on to the next person because he was trying to take Kyoya's glasses away. He had the most fun with Tamaki who decided to gently bounce him in the air. Koko went into another giggle fit that didn't stop until Haruhi took him. As soon as he was in her arms she started to give off a motherly vibe. She gave him a warm smile and quietly spoke to him, making him calm down in an instant. Aki noticed Tamaki and the twins go on about how cute Haruhi was, and soon enough Tamaki was daydreaming. About what, Aki didn't know exactly, but after hearing what his other fantasies were about (from Kyoya), she guessed it was about Haruhi in the same exact scenario but with another baby. And maybe he was the dad. She thought on that for a moment. It would be weird seeing Haruhi and Tamaki as a couple, if Haruhi would even want to be his girlfriend with how much he annoyed her already. It wasn't impossible, yes, but it was strange to think about.

Koko's best reaction to anyone was the twins. Hikaru and Kaoru eventually stopped cooing over Haruhi and started cooing over him. Koko stared at them and his thumb fell out of his mouth, making everyone laugh. He spent a full minute looking between the two, and even when he was put in Kaoru's arms he still looked at Hikaru and back at Kaoru.

Aki reached out for Koko when the twins were done but Nobuo quickly snatched him away. "No, no, Koko needs to stay away from sick people," he said, handing Koko to Kasumi. Aki frowned but didn't argue.

"Oh, look at the time," Haruhi muttered, glancing at her watch. She pushed herself off of the couch and turned to the others. "I have to go. I have to make dinner today and I don't want to get a late start. Thanks for having me over, Aki."

"It's not problem," Aki said with a slight shrug. Haruhi gave her a smile and said goodbye to everyone (even patting Koko's head) before leaving.

"I guess we ought to get going as well," Kyoya said to Tamaki. "We have work to do."

"Ah, that's right!" Tamki jumped up and hurried to Aki, pulling her into a hug. "See you later, Aki-chan! I hope you feel better soon!"

"Thanks, Tamaki," Aki muttered. Tamaki straightened up and said goodbye to everyone along with Kyoya, then the two left.

"Me 'n Takashi need to go, too," Honey said. They said their goodbyes as well.

Aki glanced at Hikaru and Kaoru after they hadn't moved long after the others had left. They looked over at her. "Yes?"

"Well?" she said.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you leaving, too?"

"We don't have anything important to do."

"Get out of here."

They grinned and hugged her. She pushed them off and they said their goodbyes. Then it was only Aki, Kasumi, Nobuo, and Koko who was engrossed in the TV (which Kasumi had decided to change from video games to a children's show).

"Do you guys need to go, too?" Aki asked. Kasumi shook her head.

"I'm here to babysit you," she said. "And Koko."

"I need to go to the restaurant," Nobuo said. "Deals to make, noodles to cook and deliver, you know the deal."

Aki nodded. "I know. Well, thanks for coming over, Nobuo."

"No problem, Aki." He leaned down and hugged her, then stood up and started heading for the door. "I'll see you later. Feel better, alright? And don't get Koko sick."

"I'll try."

He gave her one last smile and said goodbye to Kasumi and Koko before he grabbed his things and left. Kasumi put Koko down on the floor and got up to put away all the bowls everyone had forgotten to put in the sink. Aki laid back on the couch and curled up in her blanket. She actually felt a little better now.


	26. Chapter 25

"You guys? What is this?"

Aki's brow furrowed as she looked around the music room. It was set up like the nurse's office with a few beds along the walls with curtains around them. There were two cabinets full of medicine in the far corners of the room that looked like they'd come straight from Ms. Sato's office. There were also couches still in the room, but Aki had a feeling a lot of the action today would be set around the beds (she was afraid to see what Hikaru and Kaoru would do). In the center of the room where the hosts were there was another bed that looked a lot more comfortable than the others (though the others looked pretty comfortable, too). The white blanket puffed up like a cloud and a large pillow was propped up against the headboard.

Then there were the hosts. Everyone was dressed as a doctor, with everything from lab coats to stethoscopes. Kyoya had traded in his notebook for a clipboard, and Haruhi and Honey also had clipboards with them.

"What's going on?" Aki asked.

"Theme day, of course!" Tamaki said. "Since you're still sick, I thought it would be a good idea to make sure you rest, and theme day was coming up, so a doctor theme sounded like a perfect idea!"

"I'm not that sick," Aki said. It was true. She'd traded sneezing and coughing in today for a stuffy, runny nose. She didn't need any more rest. At least, she was pretty sure she didn't.

"Too bad," Hikaru said.

"We already set everything up," Kaoru continued.

"And your costume is already ready."

"You get to wear a hospital gown!"

"While wearing clothing under it, of course," Kyoya added. Even if they said she shouldn't, she would. She was not going to risk someone seeing her underwear. She didn't know how it would happen, but accidents _could_ happen and it was better to be safe than sorry.

"In the dressing room?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Right. I'll be back in a minute."

Aki walked into the dressing room and saw two mannequins, one naked and with a full body and the other looking like it only had a head and torso under the gown. Aki quickly pushed the naked one to the side before walking up to the clothed one. It had on a plain white gown with blue polka-dot around it. By the looks of it the gown would end just past her knees, but the mannequin didn't have legs so she couldn't be sure.

Pulling it off of the mannequin, she found that the gown was made of silk. Of course. She almost laughed at herself for expecting a normal gown. She also noticed that under the gown was a tank-top and a pair of gym shorts. She took those off, too, and pushed the mannequin to the side to join its full-bodied sister. She then went behind the curtain to change into her outfit, and once that was done she went outside to the hosts.

"Ready," she said. Tamaki put a plastic bracelet around her wrist and looking at it she found that the sticker on it had information printed on like her name, what she was in for (apparently she'd had a bad allergic reaction), the date she was "admitted into the hospital", and more.

Aki climbed onto the bed and made herself comfortable. She liked this bed a little more than her own, actually. It was much softer. She wondered if the hosts (well, just Kyoya, really) would care if she ended up falling asleep. The bed was soft enough that she'd probably end up falling asleep and not even realize she had.

"Feeling any better?" Haruhi asked. Aki nodded.

"Just got a stuffy nose now. And a slight headache but that's nothing." Aki leaned closer to Haruhi's ear and lowered her voice. "Hey, d'you think if I fell asleep during the club hours I'd be able to get away with it?"

Haruhi shrugged. "Probably," she said in a hushed voice. "A patient needs their rest after all, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Kyoya loudly cleared his throat then and Haruhi and Aki turned away from each other. The hosts all posed while Aki just laid there. How could she pose when she was supposed to be a sick patient laying in bed?

The doors opened in a minute. "Welcome!"

The girls walked into the room, wide-eyed with large grins. Aki smiled a little. It was nice that they never seemed to get bored of the theme days. Even though their reactions were pretty much the same all the time, it was nice to see.

Everyone split up, but not before a few girls (who weren't in her class) asked Aki if she was really sick. She said yes. One asked about what happened to her in the sense of playing along with theme day. Aki glanced at the band and noticed that there was no specific allergy mentioned, so she just decided to wing it.

"Bee sting," she said. "I'm allergic to bee stings, you know."

"Really?" the girl gasped. Aki nodded.

"Yep. Got stung by a bee and had a bad reaction. Now these...handsome gentlemen are taking care of me." She flashed a small smile at the hosts who were still within earshot. She figured serving drinks and snacks was out of the question, so she could at least compliment the hosts and make them look even better than they already did. She would be their wing-maid...or wing-patient.

Haruhi leaned towards Aki before she had to go to her own section. "Are you really allergic to bee stings?" she asked.

"Yep. Bees, wasps, fire ants...stinging insects in general, I think. But yeah."

"Haruhi!" one of Haruhi's clients called. "Oh, I mean...Dr. Fujioka!" She giggled with her friends. Haruhi and Aki smiled.

"Sounds weird, huh?" Aki asked.

"Just a little," Haruhi replied.

"Well you'd better not keep your patients waiting, _Dr. Fujioka_." They grinned at each other one last time before Haruhi left.

Aki laid back against the pillow, literally sinking into it. She stared ahead for a moment, then glanced at the room, realizing how awkward it was for her bed to just be out in the open like it was with everyone behind her. It felt weird and uncomfortable to not be able to see everyone. So, she got out of the bed and started to push it to an empty space in the back of the room where she could see everything and everyone. It just didn't feel right not behind able to see anything behind her. It made her back tingle.

"Ah ah!" Suddenly her hands were grabbed by Hikaru and Kaoru, keeping her from pushing the bed even further.

"What are you doing?" Hikaru asked.

"Patients shouldn't be out of bed," Kaoru said, wagging his finger in front of her.

"I'm just moving my bed," Aki said. "I don't like where it is."

"We can move it," Hikaru said.

"No, that's alright –"

"'No' is not an option!" Kaoru said. They picked her up and dropped her onto the bed, then started to move it. She wanted to argue with them to let her do it, but it was actually kind of fun, so she laid back and enjoyed the feeling of being rolled along in her bed. It was over soon, though.

Once they'd stopped and turned her around to face the room, they stood in front of her. "So, Puppy, do you want to help us out with our brotherly love act?" they asked. She raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't have to do much, just stay there and look sick while we do our thing."

"No thanks," she said. "I don't want to be in another one of those acts."

"Come on! It's not that bad," Hikaru said.

"No thank you. How about you just go and say something about playing doctor like you did back during the physicals?"

"We already planned on doing that," Kaoru said. "Duh."

"You remember that?" Hikaru asked, grinning. "So you do like our act?"

"That's not it!" Aki said. "I just happened to remember because it was so embarrassing."

"Wanna see today's act?" Kaoru asked, also grinning.

"No! Go away!" They laughed and rubbed her head, but did leave afterward.

Aki slumped back on the bed. She watched the hosts do their hosting while incorporating the doctor theme in here and there, such as Tamaki saying things about how love is the best cure. Haruhi and Kyoya impressed their clients with their medical knowledge (although it was a no-brainer that Kyoya would know about all of that stuff), and the twins did indeed mention playing doctor. Hikaru even unbuttoned Kaoru's shirt to put the stethoscope up to his chest, and the whole time their clients were freaking out.

There was a point where one of Honey and Mori's guests burned her finger on some tea and Honey whipped out what looked like a toy First-Aid kit. Mori took the girl's finger in his hand and put a band-aid on it, then said something – probably "Be careful" – before letting go. He might have blown on it or something like that because the girl's face turned bright pink when he let go.

After watching everyone for a while, Aki turned away. She felt pretty bored. Maybe she should have brought her homework with her...

"Hey, Aki-chan!" Honey bounced towards Aki with Usa-chan in his arms. He held the stuffed bunny out to her. "Can you watch Usa-chan for me?"

"Sure," Aki said, shrugging and taking Usa-chan from him. She noticed that he (or was it a she?) was wearing a hospital gown like hers. A band was on his/her arm, too, and the other arm was tied up in a sling. "I'm guessing Usa-chan broke its arm."

"Yep. But Usa-chan's feeling much better now! Especially now that it has another patient to play with," Honey said, beaming up at her.

"Yeah, sure does. I'll make sure to take good care of it."

"Thanks, Aki-chan!" He turned away, but then abruptly stopped and turned back to Aki. He stood on his toes and gestured for her to lean down. "Can I call you Tomi-chan sometimes?" he whispered into her ear.

"I guess so, if you really want to." As long as it wasn't Hito-chan, she didn't mind.

Honey grinned. "Thanks, Tomi-chan," he said before going back to his table.

Aki sighed, watching him go. Sometimes she just wanted to hug him and keep him on her lap and act like he really was a child...but then she remembered that he was old enough to drive and she just started to feel awkward. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she were a third-year, too.

She pushed the thought away and started to mess around with Usa-chan. She moved the arm that wasn't "broken", played with its ears, fixed a strap that had come undone on the back of its gown (she'd gotten flashed when she turned it around), and eventually just hugged it to her chest. Then she eventually started to get tired, and eventually fell asleep.

Her dream had been weird. In the dream she woke up in a hospital room, but she had no idea why she was there. She called for a doctor and was shocked to find that her doctor, Dr. Chan, was a pink stuffed bunny only a little taller than her (not including the ears). He – or her. Or it – held onto a small doll that she soon realized was Honey.

Dr. Chan put her in a wheelchair and started pushing her out the room and down the hall, passing a bunch of open doors. In one she saw Hikaru and Kaoru playing doctor and promptly turned away. In another a large teacup was in the middle of the room with steaming tea inside it. Three girls she somewhat recognized as other Ouran students were sitting in the tea like they were in a spa. Past another door was a dark, practically empty room, the only light coming from a large cauldron in the center. Pink smoke rose from it and disappeared into the air, leaving a sickly sweet smell. Tamaki stood beside the cauldron with a glass vial in his hands full of sparkling pink liquid and Haruhi stood on the other side with a large wooden spoon in her hands. He laughed in triumph while she complained that she was the one who did all the work making the "Liquid Love".

At the end of the hallway Dr. Chan stopped and handed her off to Kyoya who started explaining why she was in the hospital, but she couldn't understand any of the medical terms he was using, and he was speaking too fast. She looked after Dr. Chan and noticed it handing the Honey doll off to Mori who wore a scientist's outfit. Mori injected Honey with some sort of serum and Honey came to life...but grew so tall that his head touched the high-up ceiling.

She turned back to Kyoya when he grabbed her attention (quite literally. He grabbed her chin and turned it so she would look back at him) and noticed him motion behind him at a group of three large men...no, three large _bugs_. One was a bee, another a wasp, and another was a fire ant, all dressed up and looking like stereotypical thugs. The ant even had a cigar between its mandibles, the wasp had a tattoo on its muscular arm, the bee's wings looked like the ends had been cut up, and they all had on sunglasses the just barely covered up their eyes. The bee took a comb in one of its hands and started to comb its large pompadour. Did these guys put her in the hospital?

She was too busy staring at the bug-men that she almost missed Kyoya say something about her parents, but when she tried to ask he called over a nurse to take her away.

The nurse, Mrs. Kin, was a faceless, hairless woman with skin the color of milk. She rolled Aki away despite Aki's protests, although Mrs. Kin might have started to get irritated with her because suddenly she started to shake the wheelchair along with Aki. Then Haruhi's voice came on the intercom calling for Aki, telling her to wake up. It wasn't until the nurse tossed her out of the chair that Aki decided to open her eyes.

Haruhi and Kyoya stood on either side of the bed, looking down at Aki. Haruhi, apparently, had been shaking her.

"What's happenin'?" Aki asked groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"Club hours are over, Aki," Kyoya said.

"Oh. Okay."

She swung her feet over the side of the bed and hopped off. She wobbled a little, but soon got her balance back.

"Give this to Honey-senpai for me?" she said, handing Usa-chan to Kyoya. He nodded.

She went to the dressing room and changed into a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers before leaving and turning in the outfit.

"Hey, Kyoya-senpai," Aki said, remembering her dream when he'd said something about her parents. "Remember when you said you knew about my parents' divorce? You made it sound much worse than it actually was! 'I know about the situation with your parents'. A divorce isn't that bad."

Kyoya's eyebrows raised slightly. "That's not what I was talking about," he said. "I thought you knew."

"Knew about what? The only situation they've been in was the divorce. I mean...right? It's not like they have any financial problems or anything. Right?" Kyoya was silent. "Do they? Hey, what's going on with my parents?"

"If they haven't told you then it's not my place to tell you either," he said, turning away from her. "You'll have to ask them."

"Hey! What's going on with my parents? Senpai!" He left without so much as a glance back in her direction.

Aki huffed. What was he talking about if it wasn't the divorce? She couldn't imagine anything else that her parents went or were going through! She'd give her mom a call later.

Aki started to leave, but Tamaki stopped her just as she was about to step out the door.

"Aki, here," he said, giving her a pack of ginger snaps. "To make you feel better."

"You always bring me these," she said after a second of silence.

"D-Do you want me to stop? I can give you something else if you like! Like cough drops! Do you need any cough drops? Or any tissues?" he asked frantically. Aki had to calm him down before she could speak.

"This is fine, really," she said with a nervous smile. "Thanks, Tamaki. I really like ginger snaps, anyway." That wasn't entirely true. Well, she hadn't liked them until Tamaki first gave her a pack, but she found that they weren't that bad. Even if she didn't like them, she would have said the same thing, if only to keep him from freaking out, and to spare his feelings.

"See you tomorrow, Tamaki," Aki said, turning to leave.

"Bye!"

Aki left the school and hurried to the train station. When the train dropped her off at the station near her neighborhood, she pulled out her phone and called her mom. She wanted to find out what that "situation" was.

"Hello?" her mother's voice said on the other end.

"Hi, Mom," Aki said. Her mother gasped.

"Hitomi! How are you, sweetie? Oh, it's so good to hear your voice again! You sound kind of sick, though. Are you alright? Do you want me to get your brothers and sisters? How about your father? Hold on a –"

"Mom, no," Aki said quickly. "I just needed to ask you something. Just you."

"Oh, okay. Well, what did you need to ask?"

Aki held her breath. Wouldn't it be awkward to ask if they were having problems? Her mom would surely ask why she was asking, and what could she say? _Oh yeah, there's this kid in my school and he went through my files and eventually yours I guess and found out that you and dad were in or had a situation other than the divorce. Cool, huh?_

Well, better to be straightforward.

"Mom, have you or Dad been doing fine? Financially?"

"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?" There was no trace of surprise or anxiety in her voice as far as Aki could tell.

"No reason."

"Oh, come on, Hitomi. Why would a child ask their parent about financial problems?"

"Maybe that child is worried about their rich parents not being rich anymore."

"Aki. You don't care about if we're rich or not."

"Says who?"

"You live with your aunt."

"So?"

"Sweetie, what's this about?"

Aki paused. "It's nothing, Mom. Forget about it, it was just a stupid question. So, uh, how have you been?"


	27. Chapter 26

"Hey, Haruhi," Hikaru and Kaoru said, appearing next to Haruhi and putting their arms around her shoulders.

"We were wondering..." Hikaru started.

"Since we already went to Aki's house..." Kaoru continued.

"Can we go to your house now?" they finished.

Haruhi answered without missing a beat. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because you guys are just gonna make fun of me and I don't need you causing trouble for the other people in my neighborhood," she said. "And I don't see how you going to Aki's house means anything."

"Because you went with us so you know how we'll act."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow slightly. "No."

Aki turned around and started walking backwards down the hall. "Can _I _go to your house?"

"No."

"What? Why not? I'm a lot calmer than these two, and I won't make fun of you."

Haruhi shook her head. "No. None of you can go."

"Well, at least if we can't go then you can't go," Hikaru said, him and Kaoru smirking at Aki.

"Whatever," Aki said, turning back around. "Let's just hurry and get to the club room."

"Aw, are you angry, Puppy?" Kaoru asked, walking up to her and putting his arm around her shoulder. Hikaru stayed behind to talk to Haruhi.

"Not even a little," she said, pushing off his arm. "Hey, why do you keep calling me 'Puppy' anyway? Where did that nickname come from? Do I look like a dog to you?"

He chuckled. "Nah, it's just that Haruhi already has the title of the Host Club's dog. Well, had. She has a host title now. But since she had 'Dog', you get to be 'Puppy'."

"You make it sound like I had a choice...So what should I call you and Hikaru? Thing One and Thing Two? Or Pitcher and Catcher?"

"Just Hikaru and Kaoru is fine."

"Then just Aki is fine, too."

"Really? Not Hitomi?...Or Hito-chan?"

Aki elbowed his side. "Don't call me Hito-chan. I've gotten teased one too many times over that and I hate it."

"So how's Puppy?"

"Better than Hito-chan...Hey. Wanna know something?"

"What?"

"Supposedly my parents were thinking of naming me 'Ananda' if I turned out to be a boy."

"Why?"

"Because of that dumb pun. Y'know, 'Ah, what is it?' Ananda."

Kaoru snorted. "Oh! I get it! I bet you would have really changed your name then, huh?"

"Yeah! Not only because of the pun, but I don't like the name Ananda."

"Think you'd still be Aki?"

"Maybe...So how about you? Any name problems? Well...you get mixed up with Hikaru a lot, so I guess that's something. It must be annoying, huh?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it is sometimes, but we've gotten used to it. The 'Which One is Hikaru' game helps a little. Y'know, I wouldn't be surprised if our parents mixed us up when we were babies."

"So...so maybe you were supposed to be Hikaru and Hikaru was supposed to be Kaoru." It felt strange thinking of Kaoru with the name Hikaru. It's not like names held set personalities, but when she thought about Kaoru having the name Hikaru, she thought about him acting like Hikaru. At least in their little brotherly love act, anyway. That was weird.

Kaoru shrugged. "Maybe. But I don't think it matters that much."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter much?"

"A name is just a name. It's not like it'd change us. If my name was Hikaru, I'd still act the same as I do now, and Hikaru would too if his name were Kaoru. Would you be different if you still went by Hitomi?"

"Probably not." Aki stared at Kaoru for a moment. She'd never heard him talk like this before. He seemed calmer.

They reached the club room soon enough. Aki held the door open for the others and grabbed Haruhi as she walked past.

"Hey, so can I really not come to your house?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Do you really want to?" Haruhi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, kinda. I mean, you went to my house, so..."

Haruhi smiled. "Yes, you can come." Aki grinned.

"Awesome! Can I come over on Friday? It could be like a study thing, if you want."

"Fine by me," Haruhi said as they walked into the room together.

"So, why are you coming?"

"Tomi-chan, that's rude!"

"No it's not! I'm just asking! Because it's not like I really ever invited you to come with me."

Michiko pouted. "Well, I'm coming because I called her dad and he said we should come over for dinner. _We_. You and _me_."

"I know what 'we' means." Aki paused and stared out the train's window. Michiko had insisted on coming with her and insisted on taking the train (although she was going to take the train anyway).

They sat close together and squished between two business men. A guy on the other side of the train kept trying to flirt with Michiko in a way, but she was never looking so he was constantly trying to get her attention. That is, until Aki stared him down and was able to get him to quit it. Then after that she looked away and Michiko noticed a girl looking at Aki. The girl had on a school uniform, some school she didn't know. It was like a sailor suit, though the skirt, the collar of the shirt, and some of the trimming on the shirt was a dull red color. Michiko noticed that the girl was looking at Aki like she was interested and was able to catch the girls eye and silently tell her that Aki wasn't interested in her, and wasn't interested in girls in general. The girl turned away.

They reached their stop soon. Aki pulled Michiko off of the train and they walked together down the street. On the way to Haruhi's house Michiko told Aki all about the huge truck she had to work on with Jin and Arata and how Arata was eventually kicked off the team for teasing them about their love life. Then Michiko got into a chat with the owner of the truck, a Vietnamese man who was "as cute as a button" according to Michiko.

"We're here," Aki announced one they'd reached Haruhi's apartment building.

"Which one is it?" Michiko asked, looking at the four doors they stood in front of.

Aki pointed up to the left door on the second floor. "That one, I think."

"Let's go."

They walked up to the door and knocked. A moment later the lock clicked and the door opened. Haruhi stood there wearing a pale yellow t-shirt, white shorts, and glasses. She smiled up at Aki and Michiko.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," they repeated.

"Come on in." She stepped back to let them pass. "I just started to make dinner. It won't take long, it's just noodles."

"Haruhiii!" a feminine voice called from a different room. "Who's at the door?"

"It's Aki and her aunt!" Haruhi replied while Aki and Michiko slipped off their shoes.

"It's small," Aki mumbled, glancing around Haruhi's house. "But really clean."

"Feels homey," Michiko said.

"Smells good, too."

"Welcome!" They looked towards the sound of the voice to find a very pretty red-haired woman beaming at them. She walked up to them. "I'm Haruhi's father, Ryoji, but please just call me Ranka! That's my stage name."

"Nice to meet you!" Michiko said brightly. "I'm Michiko, Hitomi's aunt." She patted Aki's back.

"I prefer to be called Aki," Aki said.

"Haruhi told me about you," Ranka said. "You're such a cutie!"

"Thank you."

"You're not bad yourself!" Michiko said. "You're so pretty! Even prettier than I am!"

"Oh, _no_, you are extremely pretty!" Ranka said. Then they went off on a tangent about how pretty the other was and how one of them got their hair so shiny and the other got theirs so soft. Haruhi motioned for Aki to follow her into the kitchen.

"They hit it off pretty quickly," Aki noted.

"Dad's a friendly person," Haruhi said. "He makes friends pretty easily."

"Auntie too." Aki stood behind Haruhi and leaned over her shoulder to peer into the pot. "What're you making?"

"What does it look like?" Haruhi replied. "Back up, you're breathing down my neck and it doesn't help that it's already too warm in here." Aki stepped to the side a little.

"Nice house, by the way," Aki commented after a short pause.

"I thought it was small."

"And homey. Small and homey. And, it's not cramped or anything, y'know? A good kind of small."

"'Good kind of small'." Haruhi chuckled and looked around the kitchen. "Well, it is really comfortable. Although, I _have _lived here my whole life, so I would think that."

"Nah, but you're right. It's comfortable. And it's just you and your dad, so it must be really comfortable. My house is bigger, you know..."

"I know. I've been there."

"Wh – well, yeah, I know that! But you didn't let me finish. My house is bigger, but since it's just me 'n Auntie Michiko, it feels a little too big. This is a nice size...Hey! Where's your room?"

"It's the door on the left when you step out of the dining room –"

"Eating area, you mean?" Aki raised an eyebrow. "A dining room is, ya know, big."

"You know, I invited you over because I thought you _wouldn't _pick on my house."

"Right, right, I'm sorry." Aki paused, then leaned toward the wall and whispered, "I'm sorry, Haruhi's tiny house." Haruhi rolled her eyes.

"So, my room's the door to the left when you leave the dining room. I share it with Dad. And the bathroom's on the right."

"I'll be sure to remember that."

Aki walked around the kitchen, looking at just about everything. It all felt weird. Not a bad kind of weird, but...Well, it had been a while since she'd been inside someone's house and wasn't comfortable there. She knew where everything was at Kasumi and Nobuo's house, and she visited other people's houses often. The last time she'd been to a strange house for the first time was when she'd gone to Tamaki's, and Haruhi's house was a _lot _different from his. She probably hadn't even seen half of his house while she'd already seen at least three-quarters of Haruhi's.

"I guess you don't have any pets, huh?" Aki said after a moment. Haruhi shook her head.

"Nope."

"Would you want one?"

She shrugged. "Maybe when I'm older. Right now I need to be focused on my studies and hosting."

"What would you want? A cat or a dog? Or a bird? Hamster? Fish?"

Haruhi thought for a moment. "A dog, maybe. How about you? I didn't see any animals around your house."

"Yeah, we don't have any pets for some reason...I think I'd like a dog, too, but not a tiny dog like you see everywhere. A big dog, like a German Shepherd or something."

"Big dogs must be difficult to take care of..."

"Eh. I'm sure I could handle it."

"But what are you going to do when you have to school and leave it home alone? Or work, if you get a dog after finishing school."

Aki pressed her lips together. "Get a dog-sitter," she said finally. "Or keep the dog outside. I'd need a backyard, though. A big one."

"And if it's rainy?"

"Get a dog-sitter. Or a patio."

"Maybe a cat would be easier to take care of...Hey, can you get a couple bowls for me? They're in the cabinet right above your head."

"You got it." Aki turned and got four bowls out of the cabinet, then set them on the counter beside Haruhi. "Got four. Hope you aren't expecting anyone else."

"Nope."

Haruhi placed the food into the bowls: thick white udon noodles, thin slices of beef, two thin slices of ham in each bowl, and tiny slices of green onion sprinkled on top. The smell alone was enough to make Aki's stomach grumble and her mouth began to water.

"There's water in the fridge," Haruhi said. "Or if you want I can make you some tea."

"What kind?"

"Black."

"I think I'll pass."

"Alright. Well, help me with the bowls."

Aki nodded and took two bowls in her hands. The warmth from the soup seeped through the bowls and warmed up her hand, although it was quickly becoming a little toowarm.

"Dad! Ms. Fukuda! Dinner is ready!" Haruhi called, cutting off their conversation about love lives.

"Coming!" they called as the girls set down the bowls. Haruhi and Aki went back to the kitchen to get water.

Haruhi and Aki sat down around the table and waited for Michiko and Ranka to enter. They walked in, looking as if they'd been laughing moments ago.

"Smells delicious!" Michiko exclaimed as she sat down.

"And it's sure to be! My little Haruhi always makes the best food," Ranka said, a proud look on his face. "Really, I think she should be a chef when she's grown up!"

"But I don't want to be a chef," Haruhi muttered. "And I'm not that good."

"Modest," Aki said.

"You haven't even tried it yet."

"Well I'm going to try it now." Aki said a quick, "Itadakimasu," before using her chopsticks to place a noodle in her mouth. She slurped it up with a satisfied, "Mmm."

"This is really good," Michiko said after eating a bit of her own. She ate a few more noodles before speaking up again. "So, Haruhi, if you don't want to be a chef, what _do _you want to be?"

"A lawyer," Haruhi said.

"Just like her mother," Ranka said, a soft, warm expression on his face.

"Oh. I think Aki told me about her. She...?" Michiko looked at Aki. She could practically see the question on her aunt's face: _"She died?"_

Aki nodded.

"What was her name?" Michiko asked.

"Kotoko," Ranka said. He glanced toward a small brown cabinet in the corner of the room. "There's a picture of her in there. We could show you later, if you'd like."

"We would," Aki answered. She was curious about what Haruhi's mother looked like...And she thought it would be good if they paid their respects.

Ranka stared at the cabinet for a second, then turned back to the others. "So, Aki," he said, catching her attention. His bright tone had come back. "What do _you _want to be when you finish school?"

Aki almost wrinkled her nose. She didn't really like this question. "I don't know."

"I keep telling her she should be a pro athlete, you know," Michiko said. "When she was a kid that's what she was set on doing. And her best friend Kasumi keeps saying they'll go to the Olympics together."

"You play sports?" Haruhi asked Aki while the adults talked among themselves.

Aki shrugged. "Yeah, here and there. Back in my old school I was involved in soccer and basketball and sometimes tennis and baseball, and for one year I tried out judo. And I like snowboarding. But, I don't know if I really want to make a living out of sports."

"Well, are you any good?"

"Yeah, I guess. Well, I mean, I suck at baseball and tennis just because I suck at hitting things. I'm not the great with my hands, also why I'm only okay at basketball. I'm pretty good at soccer and snowboarding, and judo's kinda okay. I didn't do it long enough to get good at it."

"And how about Kasumi?"

"Gymnastics. She's been doing that for years now, and she's really good. She's also interested in figure skating, like what you'd see in the Olympics. She wants me to go with her when she gets onto the national gymnastics team, but I don't know if I'll even be good enough to become a professional, much less get onto a national team. Unlike Kasumi, I haven't been training since I was a kid." Well, she'd gotten interested in snowboarding when she was a kid, but she never took it seriously until she got into middle school. Even still, it wasn't like she trained every day.

"I think you can do it," Haruhi said, giving Aki an encouraging smile. "Even if you haven't been training for as long as other people, that doesn't mean you can't still become skilled enough to go pro."

Aki smiled a little. "Thanks, Haruhi, but you haven't even seen me play soccer or go snowboarding."

Haruhi shrugged. "I think you're capable of it."

"Well thanks. And I'm sure you'll be an awesome lawyer."

"You haven't even seen me in action, though."

"Doesn't matter. I know you're gonna be great at it. You're super smart, and you have that lawyer look about you now that I think about it. Plus, you're a hard worker, and that's a good quality for a lawyer, isn't it? And you've got a passion for it, or at least it kinda feels like you do. I mean, you really serious about your school work, so you must be serious about your career. You'll be great."

Haruhi grinned. "Thanks, Aki."

"Aw!" Ranka and Michiko said. "How cute!"

"You two are such cuties!" Ranka exclaimed. Haruhi and Aki chuckled.

Aki finished her food faster than everyone else, although she ended up regretting it because there were no seconds. She busied herself with her drink while the others finished their food. When the others were done, Haruhi grabbed everyone's bowls and got up to go to the kitchen when Ranka stopped her.

"Haruhi, dear, you don't have to wash the dishes tonight," he said. "You have company!"

"I can help," Aki offered.

"No, no, I can do the dishes. It's fine."

"If you say so..."

"I'll help you," Michiko said.

"You don't have to!" Ranka said. "It's not that much anyway."

Michiko shrugged. "Then we can get it done faster. Come on." She got up and waited for Ranka to stand before they left.

Haruhi turned to Aki. "What now?"

Aki glanced at the cabinet. She kind of wanted to see the picture of Haruhi's mom. Haruhi took notice and knelt down by the cabinet. She gestured for Aki to come over, then opened the doors.

Aki stared at the little memorial placed up for Haruhi's mother. There was a single shelf in the cabinet and on the shelf was a picture of Mrs. Fujioka. Under the shelf was a tiny jar with an unlit stick of incense in it. Aki focused on Haruhi's mother. She looked a lot like Haruhi – or, Haruhi looked a lot like her.

"She's really beautiful," Aki commented after a brief moment of silence. Haruhi nodded. "And you look a lot like her! Like...almost exactly like her."

"Yeah, Dad says that a lot." Aki glanced over at her friend and was almost shocked by the warm, almost nostalgic expression on her face. She had only seen Haruhi with an expression soft like this when she was holding Koko, but that was more of a motherly look. This was different. Maybe it was respect? Or love? She wasn't sure.

They both were still and silent, Aki staring at Haruhi and Haruhi staring at her mom. Then Aki lunged towards Haruhi, arms wide open.

"Gah! Aki?!"

"Haruhi! Now I know what Tamaki and the twins mean! You're such a cutie!"

"Aki, really –"

"Dude! I bet if you showed this kind of face to your clients they'd die from how cute you are!"

"Aki, get off."

Aki chuckled and let go of Haruhi. "You really are super cute, though."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't do that again," she grumbled, readjusting her glasses. "I get it enough from Tamaki and the twins, and my dad. I don't need you doing it, too."

"Okay, okay. I won't do it again."

"Good." Haruhi closed the cabinet's doors. Aki took one last glance at Mrs. Fujioka before the picture disappeared.

Haruhi stood up and gestured for Aki to do the same. "Come on. We can watch TV. I mean, if you want to."

"Sure, but do I have to get up? The house is so small I can just crawl over to the other room."

"Aki..."

Aki laughed. "Okay, okay! I promise, I won't make fun of it anymore. Pinky-swear, even." She held up her pinkie finger to Haruhi. Haruhi just looked at it. "Psst, Haruhi. You're supposed to hook your pinkie finger around mine, you know."

"I know that. But do you really need to pinkie-swear?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Just do it, Haruhi."

Haruhi sighed a little before hooking her pinkie around Aki's. "No more making fun of my house's size."

"No more." Aki stood up and grinned at Haruhi. "But, you know..."

"Aki..."

"I was kidding! Kidding!"


	28. Chapter 27

Aki sat on the edge of the pool and dipped her feet in the water. It was a little warm, not like she had expected. Nice.

A bird landed beside her. She stared over at it, shocked. It stared back at her, unfazed. Then after a moment it cawed and flew off. That was weird. She hadn't really thought there would be actual birds in this place. She'd heard bird calls on her way to this part of the water park, but she figured they were just recorded sounds.

Suddenly someone grabbed her shoulders and shook her. She gasped and turned around, smacking away Hikaru's hands. He and Kaoru laughed.

"So, Aki," Hikaru said as they sat next to her. "Liking Kyoya-senpai's water park so far?"

"I guess," she said with a shrug. "It's not what I expected, that's for sure."

That was true. She'd been told a few days ago about the trip the hosts were going to take to the water park, owned by the Ootori family. Since then she'd been thinking about what the park would be like, but all she could imagine was the usual: Large slides winding around the park, large pools here and there, water-themed rides...the usual. This wasn't usual.

The so-called "water-park" was more like a miniature tropical island. Bright, tropical plants covered the entire place, thousands of trees provided shade and in the distance it looked like a jungle, and apparently there were animals here that weren't native to Japan, too. It was like she'd jumped into the Bahamas...well, that was probably what they were going for.

"Hey," Hikaru said, getting her attention. "What are you wearing?"

"That's not what we put in the dressing room for you," Kaoru noted.

"It's my own bathing suit," Aki said. She was wearing a gray tank-top with a black bikini top under it and light blue board shorts. She figured if there were going to be any bathing suits provided they would be bikinis, and she didn't like wearing bikinis. They showed too much skin for her liking. Plus there was the chance of the top accidentally coming off, and that was a chance she wasn't going to take.

"But we worked hard picking out those bikinis for you," Kaoru said, putting on a pout.

Aki shrugged. "Oh well. You can work hard taking them back." Suddenly she was shoved over the edge of the pool. She took in a sharp breath just before her head went under. When she came up her head was covered in a mass of black hair, almost like a thick, soggy curtain around her face.

Hikaru and Kaoru were laughing, and she guessed it was because of her hair. She had to push it all back so she could see properly, and even then she had to wipe the water out of her eyes.

"You ass," she snapped at Hikaru.

"Why do you think I'm the one that did it?" he asked, grinning at her.

"By your smile. And you're pushy. _And_ I never saw Kaoru move."

Kaoru held out his hand and helped her out of the pool. Then he and Hikaru started to fuss over her hair, scolding her for leaving it so messy while she argued that it wasn't her fault. Eventually she got fed up with the both of them and shoved them into the pool. They popped out soon enough and pulled her in with them.

They all splashed water at each other for a couple minutes before Hikaru and Kaoru pushed Aki down and climbed out of the pool. She quickly broke the surface and climbed out after them, chasing them to a larger wave pool. She caught up to them in no time, but when she went to grab for Kaoru Hikaru appeared behind her and grabbed her instead, lifting her in the air.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed.

"Put me down, Hikaru," she said, struggling to get out of his grasp. He chuckled and set her down in the water.

They were all panting now. Aki wiped a mix of sweat and water from her forehead and flicked it at the twins. Kaoru walked to the shore and came back in a floating lounge chair. Aki watched Hikaru push him around for a bit before she turned over and started to swim around the pool. It was fairly large, so she didn't stray too far from the shore in case she ended up going far and getting lost.

She ducked under the water a couple times when she thought she'd gone far enough, just to see how deep she could go. When she came up the last time, she heard a bunch of commotion coming from the shore. Looking over, she saw that Haruhi had come back from the changing rooms. She wasn't wearing a bathing suit but instead had on shorts and a yellow short-sleeve hoodie. The commotion, Aki guessed, had been coming from Tamaki and the twins who were huddled together in a group.

Something plastic and squishy bumped into Aki's head. She turned toward the object and found herself face-to-face with a plastic bunny face. Honey leaned over the top of his pink inner tube and looked down at Aki.

"Oops!" he said, flashing a cute smile. "Sorry, Tomi-chan! I didn't see you there!"

Aki hesitated. She'd almost forgotten that she'd given him permission to call her that.

"Y-Yeah, it's not problem," she said. Then she gave him a confused look. "You can't swim, Honey-senpai?"

"Sure I can! It just looks cute this way, you know?"

"Oh..." She didn't quite understand but figured it was better not to question it.

Honey swam off toward Mori who was just climbing into the pool. Aki headed back to the shore to see what the others were doing.

As soon as she got up to Tamaki she was hit with a light spray of water. Tamaki, however, had been hit with a stream of water, the source of the spray.

"Tamaki, let's play!" Kaoru said, holding up a large water gun.

"Me and Kaoru vs. Tamaki," Hikaru said. Both he and Kaoru had huge grins on their faces.

Tamaki clicked his tongue in annoyance, taking a towel off of a nearby chair and drying himself. "Two on one isn't fair. Anyway, who wants to play such childish –"

Hikaru and Kaoru glanced at each other, then Hikaru turned to Haruhi and grabbed her hands.

"Haruhi, let's get married right now," he said loudly.

At that Tamaki grabbed a water gun and cocked it. He grabbed another and shoved it into Aki's hands. She figured that meant she was on his side.

Tamaki took the first shot at Hikaru. "WHO SAID ANYONE'S GOING TO MARRY YOU GUYS?" he yelled, chasing after the laughing brothers. Aki followed, shooting the gun every now and then. Tamaki did most of the work, though, at least for the moment.

Eventually Hikaru and Kaoru split up. Tamaki went after Hikaru and Aki after Kaoru. Aki made her way into the brush and kept her steps slow and quiet, her gun poised to shoot. For a moment she didn't hear anything aside from Tamaki's yelling. Then she heard a snicker ahead of her and saw Kaoru leaning around a totem pole. Aki snuck up to him, then hooked her arm around his neck and pulled him away from the totem pole, hitting his gun out of his hand in the process.

"Whoa, whoa!" Kaoru exclaimed, stumbling back a little. "Puppy, is that you?"

"Duh," Aki said. "I'm the only other person playing with you guys, and you'd know if it was Tamaki."

"So, what, am I your hostage now?"

"Exactly."

"Actually..." Suddenly her gun was knocked out of her hand and an arm was around her neck.

"You're my hostage," Hikaru said, smiling down at her.

"Dammit."

Kaoru laughed and picked up his gun and hers. "Hey, Boss!" he called, walking out into the open with Hikaru and Aki following behind him.

Tamaki whipped around and gasped when he saw that they had Aki. "Wh–"

"Drop the gun or Aki gets soaked!" Hikaru said.

"Shoot them!" Aki called. "Sacrifice me!" She had to admit, this was a lot of fun.

"But –"

"It's just water," she added.

Tamaki hesitated, then gave a nod before running to the side and yelling, "Take this! _Deadly blow sideway rolling beam!_"

He fell to the ground and started to roll in the direction he'd been running while shooting nonstop at Aki and the twins. Hikaru let go of Aki and turned away. His back only got wet while Aki's whole front was hit with cold water.

Something started to rumble under the floor. Aki pushed her hair back just in time to see a large wave build up in the current pool where Honey was in, then crash down and pull him away with the new, stronger current.

"Honey-senpai!" Tamaki, Aki, and the twins yelled, running to the pool.

"Honey!" Mori yelled, scaring the hell out of Aki. She'd never heard him yell before. To be honest, she never really thought he was capable of it.

Mori dashed to the pool and dived in while Hikaru and Kaoru yelled at him. Though it looked like he'd dove into the same pool, he'd actually gone into the counter current which pulled him even farther away from Honey.

Aki hurried after Mori. "Give me your hand, Senpai!" she called down to him. He held out a hand and she grabbed it, though the force of the current and the fact that Mori was really heavy knocked her to her knees and then into the pool with gasped just as she fell in and got a mouthful of water.

Aki felt like she was flying down the pool, and she also felt like she was farther down than she actually was. She had no idea where Mori was, and no idea where she was either.

Mori grabbed her arm, stopping her from going any further down the pool. He pulled her toward him and wrapped his arm around her waist, then hauled them both out of the pool and onto the edge.

Aki coughed and spit out water. Mori stood up and set her on her feet, patting her back until she was finished.

"Sorry," she coughed out. Figuring he didn't know why she was sorry, she went on. "For getting myself dragged into the pool and not helping you out much."

There was a pause, and then Mori patted her back again. "It's okay," he said. "You tried."

While she was getting out the last few coughs, Hikaru and Kaoru ran up to them and screamed for some reason before falling over. Tamaki joined them on the ground and soon Haruhi did as well.

"What is wrong with you guys?" Aki asked, letting out her last cough. Mori knelt down in front of everyone.

"Crocodiles..." Tamaki panted. "Piranhas..."

Aki raised an eyebrow. Crocodiles and piranhas weren't usually allowed in water parks last she checked, so what were they doing here?

Aki started helping everyone to their feet after they'd caught their breath. As she did, Kyoya spoke up, though he was speaking mostly to himself.

"The crocodile pasture is extremely dangerous," he mused, jotting down what he said in his notebook (that's what she assumed, anyway). "The piranha pond should be fixed again...and there is a problem with the position of the lever...I should have a talk with the infrastructure department." He closed up the notebook before turning to the others and smiling. "Thanks to you I collected useful data. You see, the facilities were still at an experimental stage."

"What the hell?" Aki grumbled.

"Where on earth is this?" Tamaki asked.

Kyoya gave a thoughtful hum, then stepped under a hut that had some sort of directorypasted on its wall.

"It must be the north gate's subtropical zone," he said."Ah, in that case...It's time for the squall experience service."

As he said that a heavy rain poured down on the hosts. Aki clicked her tongue in annoyance. She was starting to get tired of all of this water.

"It's a squall! Haruhi! Hurry towards this hut!" Tamaki yelled, running towards a different hut while everyone else walked toward Kyoya.

"Do you have any towels?" Aki asked Kyoya. He gestured to the lounge chairs behind him, one of which conveniently had a stack of towels sitting on it. "Thanks..."

Aki grabbed a towel and tossed it over her head, then picked up the rest and handed them out to the others, minus Kyoya. They all quickly dried themselves off before tossing the towels back onto the chair (although Haruhi and Mori folded theirs neatly). Aki kept hers on her head.

Shortly after the squall was over Tamaki began to devise a game plan to find Honey. Aki tuned him out soon enough and turned to Kyoya only to find that he was already walking off.

"Hey, hold on!" she said, hurrying after him. The others (aside from Tamaki who was oblivious due to his own rambling) noticed and did the same.

"It's this way, actually," he announced, heading in the opposite direction of where Tamaki was planning on going.

Aki walked behind Kyoya for a moment in silence. Then she decided to question him about the water park, so she sped up her pace to walk beside him.

"Hey, Senpai," she said. He raised an eyebrow, only giving her a quick glance. "Why the h – why in the world would you take us to a place that's not even safe yet?"

"To collect data. I told you all that."

"But still! Who even puts _crocodiles _and _piranhas _in a water park?"

"They're exhibits."

"That sounds like a zoo."

"This is part zoo."

"You said it was a water park!"

"I never told you that. Hikaru and Kaoru did. Anyway, it's a tropical getaway simulation."

"With pools instead of beaches?"

"Oh, no, there _is_ a beach area on the southern side."

"Of course there is."

Aki shook her head. She was glad she was in a group. She'd surely get lost in this huge place if she were alone. She'd probably die in this place if she were the fruits in the trees were edible.

"Mori-senpai just fell into a ditch!" Hikaru yelled. Aki and Kyoya stopped, looking back at them.

"He's worried," Kyoya said. Aki hesitated before looking up at him, then back at Mori, then back to Kyoya.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked.

"There's no one else here."

She wasn't sure if that was sass or not. She just decided to not speak at all.

They all waited around for a little while the others explained Mori and Honey's cousin relationship to Haruhi. Aki knew all of that already. Rei and Emiko had told her about it a while back. Then they had to wait again while Kyoya took a call. Aki rocked on her feet and stared at the ground, waiting for something to happen. Maybe she shouldn't have accepted their invitation to come. While it was fun at first, it wasn't anymore.

"A WOMAN ONLY SHOWS HER BARE SKIN DURING MARRIAGE!" Aki glanced up. Looked like Hikaru and Kaoru were teasing Tamaki again. This time, it seemed, he'd been pushed to tears. He sat down and hugged his knees, burying his face into his arms. After a moment Aki decided to go and comfort him. That was something she could do, or at least try to.

"Aw, Tamaki, are the twins being big meanies again?" she asked as she knelt down next to him. He looked up at her and nodded. She glared at Hikaru and Kaoru.

"It's not our fault he reacted the way he did," Hikaru said, sighing.

"Anyway, we said we were sorry, kinda," Kaoru said.

"What was it this time?" Aki asked.

"We were just teasing him because he hasn't said anything about wanting to see Haruhi in her swimsuit. No big deal," Hikaru said.

"Well –"

"Excuse me," Kyoya said. "But, Mori-senpai and Haruhi are...where, exactly?"

Everyone seemed to freeze for a moment. Then they turned to where Haruhi and Mori should have been and gasped when they found nothing but bushes.

Tamaki jumped up, pulling Aki up with him. "We need to find them!" he declared before running off with Aki in tow.

"Hey, hold on now!" Aki yelled, doing her best not to trip. "I don't think that's the way they went!" He seemed to not hear her, so she stopped and yanked on his arm. He yelped in surprise and stumbled backward, nearly falling over.

"Here, I think they went this way," Aki said, pointing off to the right.

"Why would you think that?"

"There's a path going through the leaves, that's why," she said. It was true. The large leaves of the bushes and various other plants had been pushed back, making a path that she was sure wasn't even there a moment ago.

"R-Right! This way, then!" Tamaki started running again, and this time everyone else followed.

It didn't take long before they started to hear yelling up ahead. Tamaki seemed to run even faster at that.

Soon they saw Haruhi, Mori, and even Honey standing in a circle of beat up security guards. Aki froze while Tamaki kept going, letting her go so he could hug Haruhi.

Hikaru and Kaoru knelt beside one unconscious man, poking his cheek with a stick.

"I don't know what happened but it seems like everything's fine," Hikaru said. "Did Honey-senpai beat them all?"

"Honey-senpai did this?" Aki asked. She knew he was skilled in martial arts (another thing Rei had told her), but she didn't know he could do something like _this_.

She shook her head. This was crazy. But, at least they found Honey, so now they could leave. She hoped. Even if the others would stay, she wasn't. She had enough of pools and water and tropical locations for now.


	29. Chapter 28

Aki gasped for air as she broke the surface of the water. She pushed soaking strands of hair away from her face, wiping the water away from her eyes as she did. She looked behind her in time to see a large wave tower over her before crashing down and sending her tumbling toward the shore.

She popped her head out of the water again, this time in a more shallow area than before. A chuckle escaped her lips.

Currently she and the Host Club were at a beach in Okinawa – more specifically, Nekozawa's private beach. Apparently Haruhi said she wouldn't have minded going to a beach over a water park, and the hosts took it as her saying she really wanted to go to a beach. So, they had the girls pack their things the day after exams and then they all hopped on a plane down to Okinawa. Well, a private jet, really, but that's beside the point.

And, not only had the hosts and Aki gone to Okinawa, but so had some of their regular guests. Aki didn't understand why the guests had to come too, but she didn't care all that much. Their being there only affected the club, not her. She only wished Kasumi and Nobuo were there, too, or Rei and Emiko. Everyone was busy, unfortunately, and the trip was too much of a late notice for Kasumi and Nobuo. Hell, it was a late notice for Aki, too!

Aki swam to the shore and walked out, wringing out her hair. She felt like the only one having any fun. Not that she didn't think the hosts were having fun in their own way, but she felt alone in her fun. Like it was...free. She was free from responsibilities. They weren't. They were having on-the-job fun. She was having vacation fun.

Aki had just finished wringing her hair when Kaoru called out to her. "Aki! Come over here!"

He waved to her from his spot on a lounge chair. Aki headed over to him and Hikaru (who was on the chair beside Kaoru's). Hikaru held out a glass to her as she approached, filled with some type of green, fruity drink.

"Want a sip?" he asked.

"No. That's yours isn't it?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So your gross spit is already on the straw."

"What's so bad about that? It's just a little on the straw."

"It's like an indirect kiss. With _you_."

"Ouch. Aki, you're so mean!" he said, pouting.

She stuck her tongue out and sat on the arm rests of his and Kaoru's chairs. "What'd you call me over for?" she asked Kaoru.

"You looked lonely," he said. "Like a sad little puppy."

"You okay, Puppy?" Hikaru asked, patting her head with Kaoru.

"I'm not lonely," she said, waving them away. "How about you two? Having fun?"

They shrugged. "I guess so," Hikaru said. "But why did we have to come to the East Sea instead of the Caribbean Sea? And why does it have to be Nekozawa-senpai's private beach?"

Tamaki let out a high-pitched screech nearby. Aki noticed Nekozawa stepping away from Tamaki, Belzenhef on one hand and a black umbrella in the other.

"Kyoya!" Tamaki yelled. "I told you I wanted to borrow _your _private beach!"

"It was a sudden plan," Kyoya said with a shrug, walking to the little group. "And Haruhi wanted to go somewhere close by domestically. She doesn't have a passport, either. Was anyone else able to provide a suitable location?" No one said anything to that.

After a moment of somewhat awkward silence, Nekozawa started speaking. "The Cat Rock is where each generation of the Nekozawa family's offerings are placed to worship our family's guardian diety." Just the way he spoke made it seem like he was really trying to freak everyone out. "There's a legend that says if you jump off into the sea from there, you will never again come back up – Ah. It seems there's a brave challenger over there."

Everyone turned toward the rock. Aki didn't even need to see who the "challenger" was, because Tamaki and the twins were already screaming out Haruhi's name. They dashed up to the rock and grabbed her, then ran back to the beach.

"So, Kyoya-senpai," Aki said while the others caught their breaths.

"Hm?"

"I'm guessing this whole 'bring the guests' thing was your idea, right?"

He let out a small chuckle. "Actually, no. It was Tamaki's idea."

"Huh?"

"He said it had something to do with keeping Haruhi's body hidden."

"O-kay..." Tamaki was weird.

Kyoya looked Aki up and down. "I see yours is hidden," he said, nodding to her tank top and board shorts.

"Of course. I'm not – This is as much as anyone'll be allowed to see." She almost tried to make a joke, but then remembered that he wasn't into her humor. That was more of a joke for Hikaru and Kaoru.

"I see you aren't even a little bit wet," she said.

"I have duties to attend to, I don't have time to go swim."

"Or...is it that you can't swim? Because when we were at your park you weren't swimming."

"I can swim just fine."

"Oh really?" she asked, giving him a dumb grin. "Prove it."

"I'm not dressed –"

"Senpai, you're wearing board shorts and a shirt! All you need to do is whip off your shirt and glasses and jump into the water."

Kyoya smirked and for a moment Aki thought she was in trouble. "Aki, are you saying you _want_ me to take off my shirt?"

It took her a moment to respond. "What? No, not like that!" she snapped, a bit flustered. "You're awful, Kyoya-senpai." He only smiled, irritating her further. "I'm gonna go for a swim," she grumbled.

Aki turned and walked back toward the water. If he wanted her to stop talking, he could have just said so! That's what she got from what he'd said, anyway. Teasing her surely meant he was done talking.

She stopped just at the point where dry sand met the damp sand. Honestly, she didn't really want to go swimming now. She's just said that to leave, but...now what?

Aki sat down in the sand and started running her fingers through it. It was pretty warm, not all that hot seeing as the sun had been beating down on it all day. After a moment of just playing with the sand around her, she started putting piles of it on her feet, making a little mound of sand from her ankle to her toes. Once she was satisfied with the pile, she freed her feet, now covered in sand.

Two shadows were suddenly looming over her. She looked back to find Honey and Mori standing behind her with buckets in their hands. Upon closer inspection she realized the buckets were full of different kinds of sea animals.

"Hiya, Tomi-chan!" Honey said brightly, beaming at her.

"Hi," she said. "Where did you guys get all of that?"

"Over there." Honey and Mori pointed down the beach to an area just under the Cat Rock. A group of girls were already leaving the spot. "We got the beach stocked with stuff like these! Nekozawa says he'll have his chefs cook them for us!"

"That so?"

"Yup!" Honey then set the bucket down and knelt beside Aki. "So whatcha doin', Tomi-chan?"

"Just burying my feet."

Honey paused, thinking. Then he started to smile and turned to Aki. "Hey...can we bury you, Tomi-chan?"

Aki shrugged. "I guess so."

Honey jumped to his feet and turned to Mori. "Wanna help, Takashi?" Mori nodded.

Aki, Honey, and Mori immediately set to digging a hole large enough for Aki to lay down in and deep enough that they could adequately cover her. Soon enough they had a large, deep hole, just big enough for Aki's body. She laid down and Honey and Mori started pushing piles of sand onto her until only her head stuck out. The building pressure on her body actually felt pretty good, as well as how warm the sand was.

"Make sure her feet are covered," Honey said to Mori as they smoothed out the sand. Mori gave him a thumbs-up.

Honey turned to her and smiled. "There ya go, Aki-chan!" he said, patting her head.

"Thanks you guys," she said.

"Hey, Honey-senpai! Mori-senpai!" Hikaru and Kaoru called out to the two seniors, waving them over.

"Ah! We have to go, Aki-chan!" Honey said. "Do you want us to dig you out?"

"Nah, you just buried me! I can get someone else to do it. You guys just go and do whatever you need to do."

"O-kay! Bye Aki-chan!" he called, leaving with Mori.

Aki leaned her head back, as much as she could, basking in the sun. If she closed her eyes and just listened to everything around her, it felt like she was in some sort of dream, laying in a soft, warm bed.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Aki opened an eye and looked up at Kyoya. He pushed up his glasses as they were beginning to slip down the bridge of his nose.

"Yes I am," she said. "You look sweaty. How about you take off your shirt? You'd be less hot that way."

"You really want me to take it off?"

"Hey, I said you'd be _less _hot. That has a double meaning, Senpai."

A small smirk made its way to his lips. "So you found a comeback."

"Yeah. But one that only works if the wording is correct. I'm sure you'll come up with something next time."

"I'm sure I will. If there ever is a next time."

"Which there probably won't be, right?"

"Right...So tell me, Aki, do you know if Haruhi has any fears?"

Aki raised an eyebrow. "No. Why?"

"Hikaru and Kaoru came up with a game to figure out Haruhi's fears since she seems to have none."

"No one's fearless."

"I know."

"I'm guessing you joined the game?" He nodded. "Well wouldn't you want to find out yourself?"

"Of course. I was just seeing if you knew."

"Ah."

With that they fell into an awkward silence. Well, it felt awkward for Aki, anyway.

"So...want to dig me out?" Aki asked.

"Not really."

"Kyoya! Come over here! I have a plan!" Tamaki called.

"That's my cue to leave."

"See ya, Senpai," Aki said as Kyoya walked off.

When he was gone Aki decided to break out of the sand as it was getting a little too warm, as was her face. She moved her body, breaking up the sand and knocking it to the side with any free limb until she was able to stand up. Now she was just left with a very sandy body. Aki brushed some of the sand off, but soon just walked into the water to get the rest off. Afterward she swam around for a bit before going back to shore. She walked around a little, spotted a pair of water guns (she recognized those to be the twins'), took one, and ran around attacking everyone. Some of the girls laughed and were good sports about it, but others weren't happy with her. They complained but calmed down when Aki apologized. She even got Tamaki who was also a good sport about it.

Then she spotted Kyoya with his back to her. A mischievous smile crept onto her face as she began pumping the gun. She aimed it at him and pulled the trigger. Aki had pumped the gun enough so that Kyoya was drenched when the water was sprayed at him. Aki let out a laugh, but it was soon replaced with a girlish squeal when Kyoya suddenly snatched the gun away from her, moving so fast it was scary.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked with a scary smile, pinching her cheek much too hard.

"Ow, ow! I'm sorry, Kyoya-senpai! Forgive me! OW!" she exclaimed as he began to tug.

Eventually she freed her cheek and tried to leave, though Kyoya soaked her with the gun before she was completely out of harm's way. She went to an empty spot on the beach and caught her breath, then laid on the sand, hands behind her head and one leg propped up on her knee. She closed her eyes to get the feeling of being in a dream again. It was very soothing.

Soon enough, she actually fell asleep. She hadn't meant to, but it crept up on her. Aki didn't even realize she had been sleeping until she actually woke up. And what she woke up to wasn't exactly pleasant.

It was the screaming that got her. She woke up with a start, immediately sitting upright. She looked around, searching for the screaming.

At first all she could make out was that it was the girls screaming. Then she faintly heard the names: "Haruhi" and "Tamaki". Her heartbeat sped up a little. What had happened to those two?

Aki jumped to her feet. By now everyone at the beach was running toward the ocean, still calling for Tamaki and Haruhi. Aki hurried toward the large group, looking at the water for either of the other two.

"Hey!" Aki grabbed Hikaru's arm just as she reached him at the front of the pack. "Hey, what's going on?"

His words came out in a panicky way at first. "Haruhi...some assholes...and...Tamaki..."

"You aren't making any sense you know!"

"Haruhi fell!"

He didn't say any more, but he didn't need to. Aki was pretty sure she had a general idea: Haruhi fell and Tamaki went after her.

Now Aki's heart was really beating fast. She looked towards the water, as did everyone else. It wasn't long before Tamaki rose out of the water with Haruhi in his arms, Haruhi coughing up a storm. A collective sigh of relief went through the crowd of people gathered in front of the water, but there was still a feeling of fear in the air.

Everyone was silent, watching Tamaki walk to shore. Kyoya met him with a towel that he soon wrapped around Haruhi.

"Those bastards?" Tamaki asked quietly. His serious tone honestly freaked Aki out.

"I just confiscated their IDs and politely asked them to leave," Kyoya responded.

"Yeah?" Tamaki let out a sigh. "Kyoya, Hikaru, Kaoru, Aki, prepare to take the clients back to the hotel."

"Yeah, sure," Aki said before turning around with Hikaru and Kaoru and shooing the girls.

"Okay, okay," Hikaru said.

"The cars are about to come so let's go," Kaoru added.

"What about Haruhi?" one of the girls asked.

"Haruhi will be fine," Aki said. "Don't you girls worry, alright?"

After lots of coaxing and promising that Haruhi and Tamaki were going to be okay, they finally got the girls to start heading back to the road. A line of cars were already waiting when they got there. Hikaru, Kaoru, and Aki saw everyone off before turning and jogging back to the beach.

"So, what really happened?" Aki asked.

"According to the girls, Haruhi and a few of them were up on that Cat Rock when some local men appeared," Hikaru said.

"Probably through the cave," Kaoru added. "Anyway, the guys started some trouble with the girls and Haruhi tried to defend them, but one of them ended up throwing her off, and Tamaki jumped in after her."

Aki gritted her teeth. That sounded scary from any perspective. Just hearing it made her heart jump again.

"Well, it's a good thing she's alright."

"Yeah..."

They were just reaching the others when Tamaki started to yell at Haruhi. "Then do whatever you want! I'm never talking to you again until you recognize your mistake!"

He stormed off. Aki stopped in front of the little group, staring after him. What had she missed this time?


End file.
